^  PRINCETON,  N.  J.  ^ 


Presented    by  Dr.  Y.  I- .Po\-t"to'n  . 

Section,. 3^. j/y)  iCp 


The  Apocalypse. 


A  Dissertation  Thereon. 


I       iviAR  1319U 


THE  APOCALYPSE. 


A  DISSERTATION  THEREON. 


J.  H.  McNAIRN. 


FLEMING  H.  REVKI.I.  COMPANY, 

CHICAGO  -  NKW  YORK  -  TORONTO 

1899 


PREFACE. 


O  O  many  books  have  been  written  on  the  Apocalypse, 
^-^  so  many  have  appeared  of  late  years  that  the 
present  volume  may  seem  uncalled  for,  yet  as  I  have 
ventured  upon  a  path  but  little  trodden,  not  so  much 
an  explanation  of  symbols,  nor  a  defence  of  particular 
views,  nor  an  attack  upon  other  schools  of  interpreta- 
tion as  a  presentation  of  the  glories  of  Christ  in  relation 
to  His  church  both  now  and  hereafter,  and  the  glorious 
inheritance  which  awaits  His  saints,  I  venture  to  hope 
that  even  for  this  there  may  be  a  place.  Feeble  indeed 
and  disappointing  to  the  writer,  and  doubtless  also  to 
the  reader,  as  this  presentation  may  be,  yet  if  the 
pulsations  of  the  heart  of  one  of  His  own  toward  Him- 
self are  quickened  thereby,  the  work,  defective  as  it 
surely  is,  will  be  remembered  in  eternity  although 
forgotten  in  time. 


CONTENTS 


PAG8 

Introduction ' 

Chapter  I    5 

Chapter  II ^ 

Chapterlll    45 

ChapterlV     70 

ChapterV      77 

ChapterVI     ^^ 

Chapter  Vn  93 

Chapter  VIII ^8 

Chapter  IX    ^°4 

ChapterX      ^^5 

ChapterXI     ^^^ 

Chapter  XII  '^9 

Chapter  XIII ^37 

Chapter  XIV '^6 

Chapter  XV  ^^ 

Chapter  XVI ^^^ 

Chapter  XVII    ^^^ 

Chapter  XVIII '^6 

Chapter  XIX     ^°^ 


INTRODUCTION. 


rhas  pleased  God  to  speak  to  His  creature  man  in 
many  ways,  and  through  various  mediums. 
Instruments  of  the  most  diverse  character  have  been 
used,  and  the  communications  have  been  as  varied  as 
the  instruments. 

The  Holy  Spirit's  inspiration  has  come  at  times 
upon  kings,  and  upon  shepherds  ;  upon  warriors  and 
upon  women  ;  upon  the  learned  and  the  unlearned  ;  and 
while  the  character  of  the  vessel  has  remained  un- 
changed, impressing  its  mental  pecuHarities  upon  the 
utterances  ;  those  utterances  have  been  the  expression 
of  the  mind  of  God,  whether  given  in  the  rude 
language  of  a  herdman,  or  in  the  lofty  poetical 
imagery  of  cultivated  minds  ;  thus  making  together  a 
complete  and  harmonious  whole — a  blessed  book — our 
bible. 

If  then  God  has  given  us  a  revelation  of  His  mind 
in  counsel  and  purpose,  it  must  be  in  immutable  state- 
ments ;  and  if  He  has  given  instructions  for  our 
governance,  there  can  be  no  qualification  of  them.  If 
He  has  concealed  from  us  many  things  which  we  might 


2  INTRODUCTION. 

desire  to  enquire  into,  and  given  us  only  a  partial 
knowledge  of  others  which  but  increases  the  desire  to 
know  more,  He  is  sovereign  and  acts  from  Himself, 
for  He  has  no  counsellor. 

We  know  the  existence  of  evil,  but  who  can 
explain  its  toleration.  We  are  told  by  revelation  of 
the  persons  comprising  the  Godhead,  but  who  can  com- 
prehend it.  We  have  seen  the  mystery  of  godliness  in 
incarnation,  but  who  can  know  the  Son,  or  explain  the 
holy  union. 

We  know  nothing  beyond  our  sphere  ;  nothing 
before  the  creation  of  the  world  ;  nothing  after  its 
destruction,  nor  indeed  beyond  the  existing  moment, 
except  by  revelation ;  and  if  before  accepting  the 
divine  record  we  require  an  authentication  of  it,  or  by 
analysis  such  internal  confirmation  as  will  satisfy  our 
natural  minds,  we  are  blind  to  our  lost  condition,  and 
insensible  to  our  need  of  a  revelation. 

God  has  spoken  to  man  ;  spoken  unmistakably  by 
His  word,  the  inspired  scriptures  of  truth  ;  and  man  is 
responsible  to  accept  implicitly  the  divine  communi- 
cations. Herein  then  lies  the  conflict  between  faith 
and  reason.  Faith  accepts  what  God  has  said,  simply 
because  He  has  said  it ;  accepts  statements  which 
traver.se  the  deductions  of  reason,  and  then  finds  them 
confirmed  to  the  soul  by  a  confirmation  immeasurably 


INTRODUCTION.  3 

beyond  anything  that  reason  could  establish  ;  whereas 
reason  asks,  how  a  thing  can  possibly  have  been, 
which  conflicts  with  the  laws  of  nature  ;  yet  the  One 
who  gave  the  laws,  can  surely  arrest,  or  change  them, 
without  consequences  that  reason  would  consider 
inevitable. 

If  the  mental  activity  which  is  so  marked  a 
characteristic  of  the  present  time,  has  led  some  to  a 
rejection  of  the  true,  and  to  an  acceptance  of  the  false  ; 
it  has  also  led  others  into  a  fuller  knowledge  of  the 
scriptures  of  truth,  and  to  firmer  establishment  therein  ; 
and  thus  we  see  that  God,  who  is  infinite  in  wisdom, 
and  who  moves  and  acts  unseen  by  the  world,  is 
providentially  allowing  every  development  of  the  age  ; 
every  tendency  of  the  human  mind ;  all  the  shifting 
and  changing  circumstances  of  life,  both  to  accelerate 
the  progress  of  evil  until  it  is  fully  manifested,  and 
unmitigated  judgment  descends  upon  the  vessels  of 
wrath  who  have  fitted  themselves  to  destruction  ;  as 
well  as  for  the  accomplishment  of  His  purposes  of 
grace,  in  making  known  the  riches  of  His  glory  on  the 
vessels  of  mercy,  which  He  had  afore  prepared  unto 
glory.  And  if  the  activity  and  restlessness  of  unbelief 
has  exhausted  every  source  from  which  the  shafts  of 
infidelity  have  been  drawn,  confirming  and  hardening 
itself  in   the  process ;  at  the  same  time  the  wo<rd  of 


4  INTRODUCTION. 

truth  has  only  the  more  established  other  souls  in  the 
simplicity  of  a  God-given  faith. 

But  the  processes  of  human  reasonings  are  com- 
pletely at  fault  when  applied  to  the  apocalypse,  for  here  it 
is  indeed  apparent  that  ' '  the  natural  man  receiveth  not 
the  things  of  the  Spirit  of  God,  for  they  are  foolish- 
ness unto  him  ;  neither  can  he  know  them  because 
they  are  spiritually  discerned."  Furthermore,  the 
Devil  hinders,  as  much  as  he  is  able,  a  knowledge  of 
the  book,  and  confuses  its  interpretation  ;  for  herein  is 
recorded  his  doom  ;  the  doom  of  his  master-piece  the 
mystic  Babylon  ;  and  that  also  of  the  civil  power  which 
will  be  especially  energised  by  him. 


THE  APOCALYPSE. 

A  DISSERTATION  THEREON. 


CHAPTER  I. 


ris  the  revelation  of  Jesus  Christ  which  God  gave 
unto  Him,  and  it  is  the  same  beloved  apostle  who 
in  the  gospel  which  the  Holy  Spirit  had  given  him  to 
write,  there  maintains  that  the  Word  is  God,  who  here 
presents  Him  as  receiving  a  revelation  from  God. 
But  the  scriptures  are  accurately  perfect.  The  Son  of 
man  is  about  to  judge  a  guilty  race,  and  to  purge  out 
of  His  kingdom  every  offensive  thing.  A  book  of 
judgment  is  before  us,  and  the  Judge  receives  the 
communication. 

The  blessed  Lord  is  presented  to  us  in  many 
aspects,  in  order  that  our  finite  minds  may  more  fully 
apprehend  the  glory  of  His  Person,  and  the  perfection 
of  His  work.  How  innumerable  are  the  shadowy 
presentations  of  Him  in  the  old  testament ;  and  how 
blessed  the  unfoldings  of  His  moral  glories,  as  the 
various  offerings ;  the  altars ;  the  incense  ;  and  the 
candle-stick  come  before  us  ;  deepening  and  expanding 
our  apprehension  of  Himself  ;  increasing  our  joy  and 


6  THE  APOCALYPSE. 

vStrengthening  our  faith.  But  all  this  was  anticipative, 
and  if  we  look  back  to  see  what  God's  thoughts  were 
of  the  blessed  One  who  in  the  fulness  of  time  was 
coming  to  do  His  will,  it  is  to  have  with  deeper  interest 
our  wondering  gaze  turned  again  upon  an  Object  of 
such  transcendent  glory  that  those  heavenly  citizens 
whose  voices  are  inaudible  to  the  grosser  natures  of 
men,  and  whose  angelic  forms  are  invisible  to  us, 
suddenly  assume  shape  and  give  expression  to  their 
heavenly  joj'^  in  shouts  of  praise,  as  their  Creator  is 
manifested  in  human  form. 

The  gospels  give  us  the  narrative  of  His  journey 
across  the  stage  of  this  world,  and  although  rejected 
and  crucified  by  His  unbelieving  creatures,  He  was 
none  other  than  God  manifested  in  human  flesh,  and 
now  the  occupant  of  the  throne  of  heaven. 

The  apostle  sends  his  salutation  to  the  seven 
churches  in  Asia,  a  mystical  and  figurative  number, 
and  limited  to  a  proconsular  province  in  Asia  Minor. 
Grace  and  peace  ;  how  blessed  the  association.  We 
know  that  grace  and  truth  came  by  Jesus  Christ,  but 
He  is  Himself  "  the  truth,"  and  truth  is  not  measur- 
able or  by  degrees  ;  it  is  absolute.  The  fathers  knew 
Him  that  was  from  the  beginning,  and  the  second 
word  to  them  is  but  a  reiteration  of  the  first ;  but 
grace  is  ministered  in  the  ratio  of  its  apprehension  ; 


A  DISSERTATION  THKRKON.  7 

"He  giveth  more  grace;"  and  peace  is  of  various 
significance,  whether  it  be  peace  of  conscience  by  the 
work  of  the  cross,  which  is  not  in  view  here  ;  or  the 
peace,  His  peace,  which  He  left  with  His  disciples, 
and  gave  to  them,  not  as  the  world  giveth  ;  a  peace,  a 
rest  of  soul  obtained  through  bearing  His  yoke ;  or 
that  peace  of  God,  which  if  to  us  incomprehensible, 
can  yet  garrison  our  hearts  and  minds. 

And  with  whom  is  the  apostle  joined  in  this  saluta- 
tion ?  With  Him  who  in  the  past  had  been  known  by  the 
name  of  "  The  Same,"  the  self-existing  and  unchange- 
able One ;  with  the  perfection  of  spiritual  energy,  and  that 
in  connection  with  the  throne,  a  throne  of  judgment ;  and 
with  Jesus  Christ  who  is  here  presented  in  three 
aspects  of  progressive  order.  A  faithful  mtness  on 
earth  for  God,  indeed  the  faithful  witness,  for  there 
had  never  been  another  ;  the  first  in  order  of  those  who 
should  enter  into  a  new  character  of  life  ;  and  the 
Prince  of  the  kings  of  the  earth.  Not  yet  King  of 
kings  as  having  taken  the  kingdom,  but  the  One  by 
whom  "kings  reign,  and  princes  decree  justice." 
Does  this  presentation  of  our  adorable  Saviour  touch  a 
responsive  chord  in  the  heart  of  the  reader  ?  It  is 
supposed  to  do  so,  but  alas  !  how  many  christian 
readers  look  at  this  picture  as  they  would  at  the 
f,<jures  cast  by  a  camera  with   which  they  have   no 


8  THE  APOCALYPSE. 

concern,  and  that  the  ones  who  interrupt  the  sacred 
record  were  John's  cotemporaries,  or  some-one  else,  it 
matters  not  much  v  ^om,  who  could  say  He  loved  them, 
had  washed  them  from  their  sins  in  His  blood,  and 
had  made  them  a  kingdom,  priests  unto  His  God  and 
Father.  Ah  !  it  is  not  that  He  loved  some  one,  at 
some  distant  past  time ;  it  is  the  present  tense,  He 
loveth  us.  His  redeemed  ones,  with  an  unchangeable, 
unending  love  ;  a  love  which  many  waters  cannot 
quench  ;  a  love  which  ever  works  to  the  accomplish- 
ment of  His  blessed  purposes  of  grace  which  will  soon 
find  its  satisfaction  in  the  presentation  to  Himself  of  a 
bride,  a  glorious  church  not  having  spot  or  wrinkle,  or 
any  such  thing,  but  holy  and  without  blemish. 

There  is  however  another  side  to  this  picture  ; 
there  are  those  who  have  not  been  washed  in  the 
blood  of  the  Lamb,  and  who  are  not  ready  to  accord 
to  Him  glory  and  dominion  to  the  ages  of  ages,  and 
yet  they  shall  see  Him,  every  eye  shall  see  Him,  but 
it  will  be  like  the  wicked  prophet  of  old  who  said,  "I 
shall  see  Him,  but  not  now  ;  I  shall  behold  Him,  but 
not  nigh  ; "  it  will  indeed  be  to  such  the  "  dies  irae" 
of  which  the  poets  have  written.  At  the  announce- 
ment of  His  first  coming  Herod  was  troubled  and  all 
Jerusalem  with  him.  Why  ?  A  king  was  to  come 
whose  reign  was  to  be  a  reign  of  righteousness  ;  the 


A  DISSERTATION  THEREON.  9 

self-convicted  subjects  shrank  from  His  rule.  A 
refiner  and  purifier  of  silver  was  to  sit,  but  who  could 
abide  the  day  of  His  coming,  or  stand  when  He 
appeared.  When  He  comes  again  it  will  be  with 
clouds,  accompanied  by  myriads  of  His  saints,  and  all 
kindreds  shall  wail  because  of  Him.  Many  are  brave 
when  danger  is  remote,  whose  faces  blanch,  and  whose 
knees  knock  together  when  it  is  present ;  and  many 
speak  lightly  of  the  impending  judgments,  whose 
terror  will  know  no  bounds,  when  they  see  coming 
from  heaven  the  Executor  of  them. 

But  now  He  who  is  coming  declares  Himself. 
He  is  not  only  the  Alpha  and  Omega,  which  names 
might  be  limited  to  time,  but  the  Jehovah,  the  Elohim, 
the  Shaddai  of  the  old  testament.  It  is  God  who 
speaks. 

John  was  the  brother  and  companion  of  those  who 
were,  and  should  be,  in  the  tribulation,  and  in  the 
kingdom  and  patience  of  Jesus.  A  kingdom  whose 
king  is  absent,  as  England  for  instance  when  her 
sovereign  was  confined  in  an  Austrian  prison,  is 
;abnormal.  The  time  would  come  when  the  thrones 
would  be  set  up,  and  the  saints  possess  the  kingdom  ; 
now  it  was  the  period  of  their  endurance  ;  the  kingdom 
is  in  mystery,  and  the  mysteries  are  revealed  to  those 
with  whom  the  secret  of  the  Lord  is.      The  brother  is 


lO  THE  APOCAI,YPSE. 

in  exile  on  two  accounts  ;  and  here,  as  in  many  places 
elsewhere,  there  is  not  only  man's  side,  but  God's  side 
above  it.  If  faithfulness  to  the  word  of  God  had  made 
him  a  prisoner,  the  testimony  of  Jesus  which  is  the 
spirit  of  prophecy  required  that  the  Lord's  servant 
should  be,  as  to  his  circumstances  and  surroundings, 
in  a  position  to  render  that  testimony.  And  further- 
more he  was  in  the  Spirit  and  it  was  the  Lord's  daj?- ; 
how  blessed  the  association.  The  Holy  Spirit  of  truth 
leads  into  all  truth,  and  now  it  is  for  us  the  truth  in 
connection  with  resurrection,  it  is  the  Lord's  day  ;  but  if 
the  period  is  that,  there  is  more  particularly  the  first 
day  of  the  week  which  has  been  marked  out  as  a  new 
order  by  virtue  of  His  resurrection,  apart  altogether 
from  Jewish  associations,  for  on  the  sabbath  the 
blessed  One  who  had  gone  down  under  the  burden  of 
our  sins  was  in  the  tomb,  Man  could  be  religious 
apart  from  the  Author  and  Completer  of  faith,  and 
with  a  strange  misapprehension  of  the  difference 
between  law  and  grace,  many  now  speak  of  the 
"christian  sabbath,"  but  the  observance  of  the 
sabbath  was  annulled  by  the  One  who  gave  it,  as 
indeed  was  all  the  system  to  which  it  attached,  for 
Christ  was  the  end  of  the  law  for  righteousness  to 
ever>'  one  that  believeth,  and  the  Lord's  day  is  not  in 
any   scriptural    sense    a    sabbath,   yet    a    sabbathism 


A  DISSERTATION  THERRON.  I  r 

remains  for  the  people  of  God.  For  those  who  are  to 
people  the  renewed  earth  that  day  is  about  to  break  ; 
the  day  when  the  heavenly  saints  shall  enter  into 
theirs,  shall  precede  it ;  while  for  still  another  company, 
who  are  saying  peace  and  safety,  the  day  of  the  Lord, 
that  awful  day  of  judgment,  comes  upon  them  as  a 
thief. 

The  apostle  hears  behind  him  a  great  voice  as  of  a 
trumpet,  saying :  What  thou  seest  write  in  a  book, 
and  send  unto  the  seven  churches  ;  to  Ephesus,  to 
Smyrna,  to  Pergamos,  to  Thyatira,  to  Sardis,  to 
Philadelphia,  to  Laodicea.  But  why  seven?  Why 
these  seven?  What  about  Hierapolis,  Colosse, 
Antioch,  and  others  of  seeminglj^  more  importance 
than  some  of  these  ? 

How  many  dear  saints  of  God  for  nearly  nineteen 
hundred  years  have  rejoiced  in  the  promises  to  over- 
comers,  or  have  been  exercised  by  the  warnings 
contained  in  these  epistles  to  the  churches,  stupidly, 
as  some  would  think,  appropriating  what  had  been 
given  to  others  ;  but  simple  faith  is  often  far  beyond 
intelligence.  No  doubt  a  state  of  things  actually 
existed  in  the  several  churches  indicated,  and  that  the 
warnings  and  encouragements  were  ver>^  real  and 
applicable  to  them,  but  remembering  that  seven  fold 
presentations  in  scripture  are  indicative  of  fullness  or 


12  THS  apocalypse. 

completion  ;  that  the  epistles  themselves  give  a  com- 
plete and  perfect  representation  of  the  church's  history 
in  seven  successive  stages  from  the  beginning  of 
declension  even  in  apostolic  times,  until  the  Lord's 
coming  again  ;  that  the  last  four  churches  have  this 
coming  presented  to  them  ;  that  all  are  developed 
consecutively,  while  the  last  four  run  on,  as  one  after 
another  is  brought  into  view,  concurrently  to  the  end  ; 
and  that  at  the  present  time  these  are  seen  about  us  ; 
who  can  honestly  question  the  fact  that  the  Holy 
Spirit  is,  in  these  two  chapters,  pourtraying  the  down- 
ward course  of  a  profession  M'hich  in  the  end  is  spued 
out  of  the  Lord's  mouth.  Remove  one,  or  change  the 
order  and  it  would  cease  to  be  what  it  is,  the 
church's  history  in  the  world.  Furthermore,  as  the 
church  was  ever  to  have  before  her  the  thought  and  the 
hope  of  the  Lord's  coming,  anything  that  removed  or 
deferred  that  hope  would  be  inconsistent  with  the 
whole  of  the  teaching  of  the  new  testament  where  the 
Holy  Spirit  is  continually  occupied  with  it  in  all  His 
ministry,  in  order  that  the  affection  of  the  bride 
should  ever  be  kept  burning  brightly  as  she  daily 
listened  for  the  foot-fall  of  the  One  to  whom  she  was 
espoused.  Alas  !  that  the  world,  by  presenting  a 
counter,  and  present  attraction,  meretricious  indeed 
but    effective,    should    first    have    dulled    and    then 


A  DISSERTATION  THEREON.  1 3 

destroyed  this  blessed  hope,  leading  captive  the  chaste 
virgin  espoused  to  Christ,  until  the  thought  of  His 
return  for  her  became  distasteful,  then  irritating,  then 
wholly  rejected,  so  that  we  can  look  back  over  the 
course  now  about  terminating,  and  see,  what  those 
entering  upon  it  were  not  permitted  to  see,  that  the 
purposes  of  God  were  to  be  accomplished  on  earth  in 
His  saints  by  all  the  vicissitudes  and  testings  through 
which  they  were  to  be  passed,  the  reason  for  which 
will  one  day  be  made  known,  to  the  inexpressible  joy 
of  Wisdom's  children  by  whom  Wisdom  is  now  justified. 
They  were  to  comfort  one  another  with  the  words  of 
His  coming  ;  a  comfort  which  after  the  death  of  Peter 
became  a  living  and  present  hope,  which  should  have 
extended  all  down  the  ages,  and  is  now  again  brightly 
revived  as  we  find  ourselves  in  the  midst  of  the  marked 
characteristics  which  were  to  accompany  the  end. 
The  epistles  to  the  churches  have  then  these  three- 
fold applications  ;  to  the  particular  assemblies  addressed; 
to  individual  saints  ;  and  to  the  professing  church  at 
large.  The  first  and  second  will  perhaps  not  be 
questioned,  the  third  will  be  more  apparent  as  we 
proceed. 

When  the  apostle  had  turned,  what  a  vision  met 
his  astonished  gaze  !  The  exile  of  Patmos  no  longer 
looked  away  towards  the  country  from  which  he  was 


14  THE  APOCALYPSE. 

HOW  excluded,  where  dwelt  his  beloved  children  to 
whom  he  had  so  affectionately  written.  The  little 
island  vv^as  suddenly  transformed  into  a  scene  of  glory, 
and  ' '  the  disciple  whom  Jesus  loved  ' '  saw  his  Master 
again,  but  in  a  character  so  different  from  liliat  in 
which  he  had  known  Him  in  the  past  that  he  falls  at 
His  feet  as  dead.  He  sees  indeed  seven  golden  candle- 
sticks, but  he  merely  chronicles  the  fact  without 
particulars.  Nothing  about  the  form  or  shape  of  the 
lamp-stands,  or  the  brilliancy  of  the  lights.  In  the 
history  of  the  tabernacle  the  beautiful  workmanship  of 
the  seven  branched  candlestick  is  minutely  described. 
Ah  !  that  was  Christ  lighting  His  saints  in  the 
sanctuary,  and  there,  rightly  enough,  we  have  the  knops 
and  the  flowers  and  the  beaten  work,  but  here  it  is  the 
.seperate  responsibility  of  the  churches  where  the 
appointment  being  divine  and  complete  is  golden  and 
seven  in  number,  yet  the  One  who  v/alks  among  the 
candlesticks  is  there  in  judgment,  for  judgment  begins 
at  the  house  of  God,  and  the  state  is  such  that  only 
two  of  the  seven  are  free  from  blame.  But  if  the  candle- 
sticks are  not  described,  merely  their  presence  recorded, 
we  are  given  to  see  in  a  three- fold  presentation,  and 
each  presentation  in  a  three- fold  character,  the  glory 
of  the  One  who  is  like  unto  the  Son  of  man. 

The  three  characteristics  in  the  first  presentation 


A  DISSERTATION   THERKON.  15 

are  rather  of  a  personal  application  ;  His  garment,  His 
girdle,  and  the  hair  of  His  head.  The  priestly  robes 
remind  us  of  the  place  He  has  taken  for  us  on  high, 
and  if,  after  the  order  of  Melchisedec,  it  is  unending  and 
unchangeable,  it  is  also  intercessory,  Aaronic.  But 
the  garment  flows  down  to  the  feet.  He  is  not  here 
in  the  exercise  of  that  office  for  which  His  suffering 
had  fitted  Him,  yet  having  been  made  a  perfect  and 
merciful  high  priest  He  never  ceases  to  be  so,  whatever 
other  relationship  He  may  take  as  to  His  saints. 

The  breast,  the  heart,  we  know  is  spoken  of 
metaphorically  as  the  seat  of  the  affections ;  and  He 
is  girt  about  the  breasts  with  a  golden  girdle.  Ah  ! 
His  affections  are  within  the  circle  of  divine  righteous- 
ness, not  as  ours,  often  set  on  that  which  attracts 
naturally,  while  regardless  of  the  transformations 
which  grace  has  wrought  elsewhere  on  that  which  had 
been  unlovely  and  unattractive. 

Finally  His  head  and  His  hair  are  like  white  wool, 
white  as  snow.  Daniel  the  prophet  had  seen  such  an 
One  in  a  vision  six  hundred  years  before,  and  now  we 
learn  that  the  Ancient  of  days  whom  he  then  saw,  was 
none  other  than  the  One  whom  John  saw  in  his  \dsion, 
and  that  One  none  other  than  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ. 

And  now  the  second  group  speaks  to  us  of  some- 
thing else.     If  the  first  was  personal  these  are  judicial. 


1 6  the;  apocai,ypse. 

He  had  eyes  as  a  flame  of  fire  ;  feet  like  fine  brass,  as 
if  they  burned  in  a  furnace  ;  and  a  voice  as  the  sound 
of  many  voices  of  waters.  Some  rays  of  light  may  be  so 
controlled  and  directed  as  even  to  penetrate  opaque 
bodies,  but  those  eyes  see  the  working  of  the  heart,  the 
thoughts  of  the  mind.  All  things  are  plain  and 
opened  to  the  eyes  of  Him  with  whom  we  have  to  do  ; 
and  if  the  eyes  search  out  the  secret  things,  they  are 
those  of  the  One  who  is  walking  in  inflexible  and 
burning  judgment,  and  whose  judgment  is  declared  in, 
a  voice  of  overwhelming  majesty. 

It  well  becomes,  not  only  the  church  collectively, 
but  also  the  individual  saint  to  consider  what  the  Lord 
is  looking  for  in  His  own,  and  if  we  are  in  any 
measure  fulfilling  His  holy  requirements.  Alas  that 
the  word  of  God  which  has  been  given  as  a  lamp  to 
the  feet  and  a  light  to  the  path  should  be  so  much 
disregarded,  its  plainest  injunctions  set  aside  as 
applying  to  some  one  else  or  to  other  times,  and 
individual  judgment  taking  its  place,  with,  I  think 
this,  or  I  think  that,  wholly  regardless  of  what  God 
has  said,  although  He  has  spoken  in  tones  which  should 
arrest  the  most  careless  and  compel  attention. 

But  if  judgment  begins  at  the  house  of  God  how 
awful  the  fate  of  the  Christ  rejectors  will  be  when  in 
the  presence  of  those  eyes  as  a  flame  of  fire  ;  that  holy 


A  DISSERTATION  THERKON,  1 7 

and  unchanging  judgment  ;  and  in  hearing  of  that 
voice  which  will  shake  both  heaven  and  earth,  they 
will  be  condemned  to  endure  the  wrath  of  God  for- 
ever ;  shut  up  in  the  gloomy  caverns  of  the  damned, 
where  mercy  never  comes,  wherein  no  ray  of  hope  ever 
enters,  but  where  the  gnawings  of  remorse,  and  the 
unquenchable  flame,  call  forth  from  the  unhappy 
objects  of  divine  wrath,  a  response  of  this  awful 
character  ;  weeping  and  wailing  and  gnashing  of  teeth. 
Oh  !  God  grant  that  the  reader's  voice  be  not  one  of 
those  that  come  up  from  that  pit  of  despair. 

Finally  there  is  the  official  relationship,  the  seven 
stars  in  His  right  hand  ;  the  sharp  two-edged  sword 
proceeding  out  of  His  mouth,  and  His  countenance  as 
the  sun  shining  in  its  strength.  The  last  verse  of  our 
chapter  explains  the  mystery  of  the  seven  stars,  they 
are  the  angels  of  the  churches.  When  we  now  speak 
of  angels  no  other  thought  is  suggested  than  that  of 
spiritual  beings,  but  not  so  the  word  of  God,  or  the 
meaning  of  the  word  as  then  understood.  John  sent 
messengers  to  the  Lord  to  know  if  He  was  the  One 
who  should  come,  and  the  word  adds,  "  now  when  the 
angels  of  John  had  departed' ' ;  and  the  Lord's  words  as 
to  little  children  are  well  known,  ' '  their  angels  do  always 
behold  the  face  of  my  Father  which  is  in  heaven." 
They  are  clearly  then  the  representatives,  and  so  the 


l8  THE  APOCALYPSE. 

seven  in  question  here.  Their  responsibility  is  to 
reflect  the  light  which  has  shone  down  upon  them,  but 
as  subordinate  to  the  One  in  whose  hand  they  are. 
The  sharp  two-edged  sword  does  not  present  any 
difi&culty  as  scripture  elsewhere  speaks  of  it  as  the 
word  of  God,  both  living  and  powerful,  dividing 
asunder  soul  and  spirit,  joints  and  marrow,  so  that 
that  voice  is  not  only  of  overwhelming  majesty  and 
power,  but  the  words  are  irresistible  in  their  effect. 
Furthermore,  His  face  shone  as  the  sun,  and  thus  He 
appeared  when  on  the  holy  mount  as  the  head  of  both 
the  heavenly  and  earthly  company  He  manifested  to 
the  disciples  the  coming  glory  of  a  future  age. 

When  the  old  testament  prophet  had  seen  a  vision 
similar  to  the  one  we  have  recorded  in  this  chapter, 
he  fainted  and  an  angel  strengthened  him  ;  when  the 
new  testament  prophet  sees  the  vision  and  falls  as  dead, 
the  right  hand  of  the  Lord  is  laid  upon  him  for 
strength  and  encouragement ;  the  One  who  became  dead 
but  was  now  alive  to  the  ages  of  ages  ;  the  One  who 
for  the  glory  of  God  and  our  salvation  had  gone  down 
into  death  and  hades,  but  who  was  now  risen  in 
triumph,  bearing  with  Him  the  keys  of  the  strong 
man's  fortresses  whom  He  had  bound  and  whose  goods 
He  had  despoiled  ;  write  therefore,  He  says,  because 
of  this,  the  vision  which  thou   hast  now  seen,  the 


A  DISSERTATION  THEREON.  19 

things  which  are  continuing,  and  those  which  are 
about  to  be  after  these.  If  this  three-fold  division  of 
the  book  of  the  revelation  were  a  human  suggestion, 
it  w^ould  be  open  to  question,  and  might  be  discarded  ; 
but  when  it  is  that  of  the  I^ord  Himself,  it  does  not 
admit  of  question  ;  it  is  indeed  the  key  which  unlocks 
it  all,  which  some  having  failed  to  see  have  been 
landed  in  the  greatest  obscurity  and  doubt.  Images 
and  figures  are  used  throughout  the  book  which  no 
one  would  be  likely  to  assert  that  they  had  the 
only  true  interpretation  of,  as  witness  the  number  of 
the  beast  ;  yet  the  scope  and  purport  of  the  prophecy 
are  clearly  outlined  in  the  three-fold  division  referred 
to. 

There  are  then  seven  stars,  seven  candlesticks, 
seven  angels,  and  seven  churches;  but  the  stars  are  the 
angels,  the  candlesticks  are  the  churches,  and  soon  we 
shall  see  how  the  angels  and  the  churches  coalesce. 


20  THE  APOCALYPSE. 


CHAPTER  II. 


The  epistles  to  the  churches  contain  such  an 
amazing  wealth  of  divine  unfoldings ;  altitudes  so 
immeasurable  ;  depths  so  profound,  that  it  seems 
temerity  indeed  to  undertake  to  write  anything  on 
such  a  subject ;  but  the  servant  to-day  has  the  same 
blessed  Master  that  the  apostle  had,  and  whatever  the 
weakness  and  incapacity  of  the  vessel,  He  is  able  to 
make  His  grace  abound  in  inciting  some,  thereby,  to  a 
more  diligent  study  of  scriptures  which  present  His 
glory  in  so  varied,  and  in  such  brilliant  colors. 

' '  Unto  the  angel  of  the  church  of  Ephesus  write. ' ' 
Thirty  years  earlier  another  apostle,  by  inspiration  of 
the  Holy  Spirit  could  address  them  directly,  and  not 
as  here  through  a  representative,  "  as  the  saints  which 
are  at  Ephesus,  and  the  faithful  in  Christ  Jesus." 
Then  the  assembly  at  Ephesus  was  in  such  happy 
relationship  with  its  risen  and  glorified  Head,  that  the 
purposes  and  counsels  of  God  could  be  exposed  as  no 
where  else.  There  they  were  chosen  in  Christ  before 
the  foundation  of  the  world.  There  they  were  seen  as 
raised  up  together  with  Him  and  seated  in  Him  in  the 
heavenlies,    after  having  been  sealed  with  the  Holy 


A  DISSERTATION  THEREON.  21 

Spirit    of    promise.      There    was    made    known    the 
mystery  which  had  been  hid  in  God  from  the  founda- 
tion of  the  world  ;  showing  to  the  heavenly  principalities 
and  powers,  the  manifold  wisdom  of  God  displayed  in 
the  church,   and  there  the  church  was  seen   as  the 
bride  of  Christ.     Alas  !  it  had  become  a  fallen  church  ; 
it  had  left  its  first  love,  and  as  the  intimate  relationship 
of  reciprocal   affection  had  waned,  a  communication 
could  now  only  be  made  to  it  through  its  representative. 
The  reader  will  remark  the  general  character  of  the 
first  epistle.      He  who  speaks  is  the  One  who  holds  in 
His  right  hand  the  seven  stars  ;  the  One  who  walks  in 
the  midst  of  the  seven  golden  candlesticks.     He  who 
hath   an  ear  is  to  hear  what  the  Spirit  saith  to  the 
churches ;  and  the  promise  to  the  overcomer  is  of  no 
limited  application.     Is  not  this  of  itself  the  clearest 
evidence    that    in    its    application    the    epistle    goes 
beyond  the  assembly  gathered  at  Ephesus,  while  at  the 
same   time  describing  an  existing  state  of    things? 
This  double   application  is  continually  found  in  the 
word  of  God.     After  the  descent  of  the  Holy  Ghost  at 
pentecost.    His   energy  through   individuals  was    so 
marked  that  Peter  could  speak  of  it  as  that  of  which 
the  prophet  Joel  had  spoken,  which  was  to  characterise 
a  period  still  future,  and  clearly  so,  as  the  co-incident 
wonders  are  yet  unfulfilled. 


2  2  THE  APOCALYPSE. 

The  declension  of  the  churches  had  set  in  before 
the  apostles  had  passed  off  the  scene,  a  decline  which 
although  checked  for  a  time  by  the  persecution  of  the 
Smj-rua  period,  has  continued  to  the  present,  and 
shortly  when  relieved  of  the  restraining  power  which 
now  hinders,  will  have  its  downward  course  increased 
to  fearful  rapidity,  and  finally  be  destroyed  by  the 
world  power  it  has  courted  and  controlled.  But  there 
is  this  to  be  remembered.  The  vast  company  of  unbe- 
lieving professors  known  as  the  church  has  in  its 
midst  a  smaller  company — true  believers,  and  these 
only  compose  the  church  as  seen  of  God,  so  that  they 
are  the  preservative  element  which  at  the  Lord's  com- 
ing are,  together  with  the  Holy  Spirit,  taken  away, 
yet  it  is  true  believers,  whose  love  has  grown  cold, 
who  are  called  upon  to  repent ;  and  it  is  false  pro- 
fessors, and  they  only,  who  are  spued  out  of  the 
Lord's  mouth. 

What  grace  it  is  that  here  and  elsewhere  whatever 
is  commendable  is  first  recounted.  There  were  works, 
and  labour  and  endurance,  but  while  these  continued, 
and  credit  was  given  for  them,  the  reproof  which  an 
omission  contains  is  most  solemn.  The  spring,  the 
motive  power  which,  in  the  Lord's  eyes  gives  most 
value  to  any  service  for  Him,  is  here  lacking.  It  was 
not  as  in  the  case  of   the   Thessalonians ;    works  of 


A  DISSERTATION  THEREON.  23 

faith,  labour  of  love,  and  patience  of  hope  in  our  Lord 
Jesus  Christ ;  and  we  may  well  ask,  how  much  of  the 
thessalonian  character  is  stamped  upon  the  activity 
we  see  about  us  at  the  present  time.  If  every  element 
of  service  were  eliminated  but  that  which  has  its 
source  in  personal  devotion  to  the  Lord  Jesus,  as  one 
day  indeed  it  will  be,  how  much  of  all  we  see  and  per- 
haps often  admire  would  be  destroyed,  nay,  how  little 
would  be  left.  Indeed  the  covering  is  often  so  thin  of 
what  assumes  to  be  "  work  for  the  Master  ' '  that  like 
a  lady's  photograph  taken  in  hat  and  veil,  the  linia- 
ments  beneath  the  gauze  are  more  noticeable  because 
of  the  slight  effort  at  concealment.  The  Lord  is  not 
honoured  in  the  building  up  of  a  party,  or  in  the 
glorification  of  an  individual. 

Yet  there  was  much  to  commend.  The  ephesian 
period  was  a  very  brief  one ;  it  hardly  extended 
beyond  the  hfe  time  of  individuals  who  had  heard 
apostolic  ministry,  and  the  declension,  although  rapid, 
had  not  destroyed  the  spiritual  perceptions  of  a  happier 
and  more  devoted  state.  They  could  detect  and  judge 
evil,  they  could  reject  false  apostolic  assumption,  and 
manifest  an  unwearied  endurance  for  His  name's  sake  ; 
yet  it  was  a  fallen  church,  she  had  left  her  first  love, 
and  repentance  was  the  only  avenue  by  which  she 
could  be  re-instated  in  that  happy  place  of  mutual 


24  THE)  APOCALYPSE. 

confidence  and  communion.  She  had  been  left  here 
by  her  Lord  to  be  a  hght  for  Him  in  His  absence,  to 
reflect  His  glor)* ;  if  she  was  not  doing  this,  what  value 
was  the  candlestick  ?  it  would  be  removed. 

But  there  was  another  qualification  which  had  not 
perhaps  been  brought  into  active  exercise  and  so  not 
included  in  the  commendatory  list ;  but  the  One  before 
whose  eye  the  thoughts  and  intents  of  the  heart  are 
laid  bare,  saw  how  the  evil  principle  w^as  hated  and 
possibly  hindered  from  manifestation,  and  credit  was 
given  for  it. 

When  the  blessed  Lord  speaks  of  the  works  of  the 
nicolaitanes  as  being  hateful  to  Him,  we  turn  at  once 
to  see  the  people  whose  deeds  have  such  a  sweeping 
and  awful  condemnation,  but  we  see  no  one.  We 
examine  patristic  writings  for  their  history,  but  the 
fathers  are  silent.  We  search  the  scriptures  again ; 
but,  that  the  hateful  thing  had  taken  root  in  Pergamos, 
there  is  no  further  reference  to  it.  Our  last  resource 
is  to  look  at  this  epistle  to  Ephesus  in  the  language  in 
which  it  was  written,  and  there  we  find  the  explanation 
in  a  way  that  removes  all  difficulty.  It  reads  thus : 
"But  this  thou  hast,  that  thou  hatest  the  works  of  the 
vanquishers  of  the  people,  which  I  also  hate. ' ' 

There  were  there  those  who  were  ready  to  forge 
the  manacles  which  afterwards  bound  the  people  hand 


A  DISSERTATION  THEREON.  25 

and  foot  in  spiritual  bondage  ;  and  so,  easily  led  cap- 
tive by  the  devil  at  his  will  through  priestly  domina- 
tion, the  conquered  people,  having  become  so  by  a 
gradual  and  almost  insensible  progress,  surrendered  to 
their  spiritual  advisers  the  responsibility  for  the  salva- 
tion of  their  souls,  with  the  result,  that  a  moral  dark- 
ness settled  down  upon  the  people  professing  the  name 
of  Christ  for  a  long  period  of  many  centuries  until  the 
Spirit  of  God  again  brought  to  light  the  blessed  fact  of 
individual  relationship  with  God  through  faith  in  a 
crucified  Saviour. 

The  appeal  to  hear  the  words  of  the  Spirit  to  those 
who  have  ears,  precedes  the  promise  to  the  overcomer 
here,  in  Smyrna,  and  in  Pergamos — ^while  in  Thyatira, 
in  Sardis,  in  Philadelphia,  and  in  I^aodicea,  the  order  is 
reversed.  That  is  to  say,  in  the  former  case  the  appeal 
is  to  a  corporate  condition,  while  in  the  latter  it  is 
individual. 

When  the  Lord  God  planted  a  garden  eastward  in 
Eden  six  thousand  years  ago.  He  set  in  the  midst  of  the 
garden  two  trees  :  the  tree  of  life,  and  the  tree  of  the 
knowledge  of  good  and  evil.  Man  having  partaken  of 
the  latter  through  disobedience,  was  shut  out  from  the 
former  ;  and  after  these  thousands  of  years  have  rolled 
their  course,  this  tree,  and  this  only,  makes  its  appear- 
ance again,  but  not  with  earthly  surroundings,  however 


26  THB  APOCALYPSE. 

delightful  naturally,  but  in  the  paradise  of  God.  No 
cherubims  are  there  with  flaming  swords  to  guard  the 
approaches  to  that  tree  now,  but  the  happy  overcomer 
sits  down  under  its  shadow  with  great  delight  and 
partakes  freely  of  the  heavenly  fruit.  I,ater  on  in  this 
blessed  book  we  find  that  it  bears  twelve  manner  of 
fruits,  and  that  the  leaves  of  the  tree  are  for  the  heal- 
ing of  the  nations.  We  who  have  been  born  again  by 
the  operation  of  the  Holy  Spirit  know  that  Christ  is 
our  life,  and  those  who  will  be  so  happy  as  to  have 
part  in  millenial  blessing  will  prove  indeed  the  fulfil- 
ment of  the  prophecy  which  says,  that  "  Himself  took 
our  infirmities  and  bare  our  sicknesses. ' ' 

When  the  Lord  Jesus  addresses  the  angel  oi  Ine 
church  at  Smyrna  it  is  under  another  character  than 
that  of  the  Holder  of  the  seven  stars  as  in  Ephesus 
where  He  walks  among  the  candlesticks,  but  every- 
thing to  strengthen  and  encourage ;  and  the  encour- 
agement and  strengthening  are  exactly  the  same  as 
ministered  to  the  beloved  disciple  when  the  heavenly 
vision  burst  upon  him,  and  he  fell  at  the  Lord's  feet  as 
dead.  There  is  no  reproof  given  to  Smyrna,  and  the 
commendation  is  negative  rather  than  positive.  There 
are  no  works  spoken  of,  merely  tribulation  and  poverty, 
but  if  poor  in  this  world  they  were  rich  in  Christ. 
They  were  a  heavenly  people  in  a  community  that 


A  DISSERTATION  THEREON.  27 

desired  to  make  their  city  an  attractive  centre  for 
heathen  festivities,  and  they  were  not  wanted  where 
their  separation  from  it  all,  not  only  condemned  the 
rites,  but  in  so  far,  prevented  their  full  success.  They 
were  persecuted,  although  for  a  limited  period,  and 
wherever  there  is  faithfulness  to  Christ,  in  some  way 
the  one  who  has  that  name  called  upon  him  will  be 
made  to  realize  that  he  is  not  of  this  world  even  as  his 
Master  was  not. 

The  state  into  which  the  church  of  God  had  fallen 
at  the  close  of  the  apostolic  period  was  a  deplorable 
one,  and  if  unchecked  would  end  at  length  in  giving 
up  even  the  outward  semblance  of  that  which  alread}^ 
had  ceased  inwardly.     It  must  be  stopped,  but  how? 

In  the  distant  past,  far  back  in  eternity,  God  had 
created  one  being  far  exceeding  all  others  in  beauty, 
in  wisdom,  and  in  power  ;  "  every  precious  stone  was 
his  covering, ' '  indeed  he  is  said  to  have  ' '  filled  up  the 
sum,"  but  his  heart,  because  of  all  this,  being  lifted 
up  in  pride,  he  fell  into  condemnation,  and  was  cast 
down  from  his  high  estate.  Thenceforth  he  became 
the  embodiment  of  every  evil  and  hateful  principle 
which  found  manifestation  in  opposing  his  Creator, 
and  in  attacking  His  creatures.  Restrained  by  di\-ine 
power  from  the  accomplishment  of  most  of  his  wicked 
purposes,  he  is  yet  allowed  just  so  much  liberty  of 


28  THE  APOCALYPSE. 

action  as  to  work  out,  it  may  be  unwillingly  and  un- 
wittingly, the  holy  will  of  God,  as  with  Job,  as  with 
Peter,  and  many  others.  Now,  this  wicked  spirit 
works  through  human  instrumentality  in  \arious  ways, 
yet  the  word  of  God  declares,  ' '  He  maketh  the  wrath 
of  man  to  praise  Him,  and  the  remainder  of  wrath  He 
will  restrain."  He  would  cast  of  them  into  prison; 
they  were  to  suffer  ;  they  were  to  be  tried  ;  they  were 
to  have  tribulation  ten  days,  and  after  it  was  all  over, 
a  crown  of  life  awaited  them. 

While  the  annals  of  christian  martyrdom  are  filled 
with  the  record  of  the  cruel  persecutions,  the  suffer- 
ings, and  the  deaths  of  the  children  of  God,  from 
apostolic  times  down  to  a  period  almost  modern,  the 
tribulation  of  the  dear  saints  of  the  Smyrna  epoch  was 
limited  in  duration  to  the  reigns  of  ten  roman  em- 
perors, making  ten  distinct  persecutions  from  that  of 
Nero  in  A.D.  64  to  that  of  Diocletian,  which  did  not 
cease  at  his  death,  but  was  prosecuted  by  Galerius,  a 
Caesar  of  his  appointment  for  five  years  after. 
' '  Ye  shall  have  tribulation  ten  days. ' ' 
Three  thousand  j-ears  after  the  giving  of  this 
epistle,  death  and  hades  are  to  deliver  up  the  dead 
that  are  in  them,  and  these  are  to  be  cast  into  the  lake 
of  fire.  This  is  the  second  death.  The  overcomer  in 
Smyrna,  the  overcomer  now,  will  not  be  affected  by  it; 


A  DISSERTATION  THERKON.  29 

but  who  can  imagine ;  what  mind  can  conceive,  the 
awful  character  of  that  resurrection  as  the  innumerable 
millions  of  the  unjust  from  the  creation  down,  rise 
again  to  receive  their  final  sentence,  and  to  be  banished 
to  their  eternal  doom.  Men  whose  names  are  infamous 
even  upon  the  page  of  profane  history  will  be  there  ; 
there  also  will  be  their  victims  ;  those  as  powerless 
to  vent  their  rage,  as  the  other  to  obtain  their  deeply 
desired  revenge.  But  in  that  vast  company  of  two 
hundred  generations  there  will  be  not  only  the  desper- 
ately wicked  ;  there  will  also  be,  from  every  age,  from 
every  clime,  from  every  race,  from  ever}^  creed  ;  the 
gentle,  the  cultivated,  the  courteous,  the  intellectual, 
and  the  refined  ;  men  whose  writings  have  been  read 
with  delight  ;  women  whose  graces  have  adorned  the 
society  of  their  day.  Refinement,  culture,  and  intel- 
lectual attainments,  will  there  have  no  rating.  The 
daughter  of  a  hundred  earls  will  have  no  better  place 
than  the  child  of  the  poorest  peasant.  All  who  have 
despised  the  grace  of  God  will  be  reduced  to  one  dead 
level  of  rank  and  be  cast  into  the  lake  of  fire.  How 
amazing  that  any  soul  should  go  on  deliberately, 
determinedly,  desperately  to  a  fate  so  clearly  exposed, 
when  the  remedy,  the  place  of  safety,  has  been  pro- 
vided at  incalculable  cost,  and  all  invited  to  avail 
themselves  of  it. 


30  THE  APOCALYPSE. 

To  the  angel  of  the  church  in  Pergamos  write ; 
and  how  solemn  the  message  as  it  came  from  One  out 
of  whose  mouth  went  a  sharp  two-edged  sword.  The 
city  itself  had  risen  to  opulence  and  splendour  exceed- 
ing all  other  cities  in  Asia.  It  was  the  centre  for  all 
that  was  attractive  in  the  arts,  in  learning  and  in 
religion.  It  had  attained  its  eminence  through  wealth 
entrusted  to  one  who  betrayed  his  trust,  and  founded 
therewith  a  famous  house.  But  there  was  this  about 
Pergamos,  that  while  other  cities  had  their  own  deities 
which  they  worshipped  ;  in  the  world-renowned  grove 
at  Pergamos  were  temples  to  almost  everj^  god, 
worshipped  by  any  known  people.  Satan  had  indeed 
set  his  throne  there  in  a  very  marked  way,  and  the 
saints  of  God  were  dwelling  there  !  Dwellers  are 
those  who  have  become  fixtures,  in  contrast  to 
sojourners  or  travellers  ;  and  such  was  Lot  in  Sodom, 
such  the  saints  of  Pergamos.  Had  they  forgotten  a 
word  of  warning  uttered  centuries  before  :  ' '  Arise  ye, 
and  depart  ;  for  this  is  not  your  rest  ;  because  it  is 
polluted."  They  could  hold  fast  His  name  and  not 
deny  His  faith,  but  that  was  very  different  from  keep- 
ing His  word.  Not  denying  the  faith  is  negative  ; 
keeping  His  word  ;  not  His  words  merely  ;  is  positive. 
Still  how  blessed  it  is  to  find  that  in  the  midst  of  the 
unhappy  surroundings  at   Pergamos,    there   was  the 


A  DISSERTATION  THEREON.  31 

word  of  encouragement  for  the  overcomer ;  but  the 
rewards  promised  are  in  marked  keeping  with  their 
position  ;  they  were  both  secret  in  character ;  hidden 
links  with  the  lyord  ;  not  open  and  manifest. 

How  dangerous  it  is  for  the  individual  saint  to  be 
in  the  midst  of  surroundings,  such  as  those  in  which 
the  assembly  at  Pergamos  was.  It  is  impossible  to 
breathe  a  vitiated  atmosphere,  and  not  have  the  health- 
ful tone  of  the  system  lowered  thereby.  It  is  also 
impossible  for  a  child  of  God  to  be  in  a  position  of 
continual  intercourse  with  evil  and  the  moral  sensi- 
bilities not  be  affected  by  it.  Separation  is  a  divine 
principle  ;  union  is  a  human  expedient.  Israel  was 
separated  from  the  nations.  The  church  is  called  out 
from  the  world  ;  the  word  ecclesia,  indicates  that  ;  nor 
does  scripture  make  a  distinction  between  the  christian 
world,  and  the  wicked  world,  which  we  hear  of  in 
modern  times.  All  that  is  in  the  world  is  not  of  the 
Father  but  of  the  world  ;  and  Christ  died  to  redeem  us 
from  this  present  evil  world.  Much  is  said  too  of  the 
Fatherhood  of  God  and  the  brotherhood  of  man,  the 
bible  says  :  "  In  this  the  children  of  God  are  manifest, 
and  the  children  of  the  devil."  The  great  effort  of 
the  world  as  directed  by  Satan,  is,  that  all  lines  should 
l3e  obliterated,  and  that  the  christian  should  become  a 
part  of  that  world  which  is  soon  to  be  judged.     Ought 


32  THE  APOCALYPSE. 

not  good  people  to  come  into  all  that  is  going  on,  and 
help  to  elevate  and  improve  the  world  ?  But  human 
thoughts  traverse  here,  as  elsewhere,  divine  principles, 
and  so  the  prophet,  as  led  by  the  Spirit  of  God,  could 
saj^  :  ' '  My  thoughts  are  not  your  thoughts,  neither  are 
your  ways  my  ways,  saith  the  I^ord." 

The  Pergamos  era  is  in  marked  contrast  to  that 
of  Smyrna  which  precedes  it.  The  bitter  persecution 
which  had  continued  for  two  hundred  and  fifty  years, 
with  varying  intensity,  came  to  an  abrupt  conclusion. 
The  one  into  whose  hands  the  empire  of  the  world  now 
passed,  and  who  governed  it  in  the  interest  of  its  god 
and  prince,  became  at  first  the  patron  and  then  the 
head  of  the  professing  church.  Naturally,  it  was  an 
agreeable  change  for  the  saints  ;  and  released  from 
their  hiding  places  in  the  catacombs  and  elsewhere, 
they  disposed  themselves  to  take  advantage  of  the 
royal  favors  which  began  to  be  showered  upon  them  : 
they  became  dwellers  in  the  very  place  where  Satan's 
throne  was.  The  occupant  of  that  throne  whom  the 
world  has  styled,  the  great,  after  having  put  to  death 
ever^^one  who  stood  in  the  way  of  his  ambition,  or 
excited  his  jealousy,  was  finally  baptized  for  the  remis- 
sion of  his  sins  on  his  death-bed,  professing  the  arian 
belief,  which,  inasmuch  as  it  rejects  the  divine  declara- 
tion of  the  eternal  sonship  of  Christ,  rejects  the  only 


A  DISSERTATION  THERKON.  33 

efficient  Saviour.  The  word  of  God  which  had  been 
the  sheet  anchor  of  the  faith  of  the  saints  during  a 
period  of  persecution,  was  losing  its  power  over  them 
as  they  emerged  into  a  serener  atmosphere  which  was 
clear  of  cloud  or  storm.  There  was  not  so  much  felt 
need  for  its  blessed  guidance,  where  there  were  not  so 
many  dangers  and  difficulties  to  be  surmounted  ;  but 
the  One  who  speaks  is  the  Bearer  of  the  two-edged 
sword  ;  that  sword  which  proceeded  out  of  His  mouth, 
and  was  effectual,  not  only  to  the  dividing  asunder  of 
joints  and  marrow,  but  also  of  soul  and  spirit,  The}^ 
should  be  made  to  feel  the  keenness  of  its  sharp  edges. 
The  doctrine  of  the  nicolaitanes  was  bad,  very 
bad  ;  and  it  had  at  length  established  itself  in  the 
bosom  of  the  church,  but  evil  as  it  was,  there  was 
something  that  was  worse ;  there  was  the  doctrine  of 
Balaam.  The  desperate  wickedness  of  this  false 
prophet  is  hardly  exceeded  anywhere  ;  but  we  need  the 
search-light  of  new  testament  scriptures  to  reveal  to  us 
his  motives,  as  well  as  to  connect  his  guiding  hand 
with  subsequent  events  which  led  to  the  awful  judg- 
ment of  God  upon  the  people.  Israel  had  finished  his 
wilderness  journey,  and  the  promised  land  lay  before 
him  ;  a  land  of  the  olive,  the  vine,  and  the  fig  tree  ;  and 
the  devil,  true  to  his  character,  must  by  every  means 
bar  his  entrance.     He  sent  to  Pether,  in  Mesopotamia, 


34  THK  APOCALYPSE. 

for  the  son  of  Beor,  a  professed  ser\^ant  of  Jehovah, 
but  a  covetous  man,  to  come  and  curse  Israel.  The 
wretched  man  was  quite  willing  to  do  it  if  he  were 
paid  for  it,  but  his  curses  were  turned  to  blessings  in 
spite  of  himself,  and  the  money  he  .so  ardently  desired, 
he  saw  slipping  through  his  fingers.  But  the  devil  had 
another  expedient,  and  if  the  nation  could  not  be 
cursed,  individuals  might ;  and  the  surest  way  to 
accomplish  this,  would  be  through  the  lusts  of  the 
flesh  ;  we  know  the  result ;  many  thousands  of  the 
people  perished.  And  now  again  in  Pergamos  historj^ 
repeats  itself ;  the  world  is  brought  in,  in  an  attractive 
way ;  many  foolish  and  hurtful  lusts  that  drown  men 
in  destruction  and  perdition  are  engendered  ;  and  alas  ! 
the  disciples  of  that  false  prophet,  who  loved  the  wages 
of  unrighteousness,  for  which  if  need  be,  he  would 
lead  the  people  of  God  to  destruction  ;  are  the  natural 
and  legitimate  development  of  the  nicolaitanism  which 
conquered  the  people.  But  a  da}^  was  coming  when 
the  sword  of  His  mouth  would  be  turned  against  them, 
and  the  word  of  the  living  God  would  be  their  own 
condemnation,  and  destruction. 

To  be  an  overcomer  in  the  earlier  part  of  the 
fourth  century,  meant  a  great  deal ;  more  indeed  than 
in  the  Smyrna  period,  for  while  the  roars  of  the  devil 
drive  souls  to  seek  refuge  in  Christ ;  the  only  strong 


A  DISSERTATION  THERBON.  35 

tower  in  which  they  may  find  safety  ;  his  seductions  do 
not  alarm,  and  his  victims  do  not  see  his  skilful  web> 
until  they  are  entangled  in  its  meshes.  Overcoming 
at  such  a  time  means  separation  ;  and  to  separate  from 
the  world,  and  to  be  separated  to  Christ,  of  ten  involves 
painful  rendings  of  many  things  the  natural  heart 
would  gladly  retain.  But,  it  is  well  worth  while. 
The  hidden  manna,  the  white  stone,  and  the  new 
name  were  the  promised  rewards  there  ;  under  similar 
conditions  they  are  the  same  now. 

The  golden  pot  of  manna  was  laid  up  in  the  ark 
as  a  memorial  of  the  grace  that  had  fed  them  in  the 
wilderness.  In  the  land  there  would  be  other  sources 
of  supply,  but  not  the  bread  from  heaven,  fallen  upon 
the  ground,  as  a  small  round  thing,  as  small  as  the 
hoar  frost;  contemptible  indeed  to  nature,  but  God's 
provision  in  the  wilderness  for  them,  and  for  us.  The 
remembrance  in  the  glory  of  the  presence  and  sus- 
taining grace  of  the  One  whose  flesh  we  eat,  and  whose 
blood  we  drink,  as  we  traverse  the  dry  and  thirsty 
land  w^hich  produces  neither  food  nor  drink  for  heavenly 
beings,  will  be  one  of  the  delights  of  that  blessed  scene, 
but  if  we  seek  for  that  food  where  the  sun  of  this  world's 
attraction  has  arisen,  we  shall  find  it  has  disappeared. 

The  white  stone — token  of  approval — was  well 
known  to  the  ancients  as  having  that  signification,  and 


36  THE  APOCALYPSE. 

is  not  unknown  in  the  same  wa)-,  at  the  present  daj' ; 
but  when  the  blessed  Lord  Himself  is  the  Approver, 
what  an  inestimable  value  is  given  to  the  S5^mbol,  for 
there  is  not  only  that  which  it  expresses  in  itself,  but 
engraven  on  it  is  a  new  name  ;  a  name  only  known  to 
the  Giver  and  the  receiver.  How  is  it  possible,  it  may 
be  asked,  that  one  may  have  a  name,  and  that  name  be 
secret,  inasmuch  as  the  name  is  a  designation,  and  to 
be  that,  must  be  well  known.  If  we  look  back  over 
the  pages  of  sacred  history  we  shall  see  in  very  many 
instances  that  names  of  persons  have  been  changed  at 
some  marked  period  of  their  lives,  and  that  the  new 
name  has  been  given  to  express  some  quality,  or 
characteristic,  or  perhaps  to  record  some  circumstance 
connected  with  them  of  special  significance.  Now 
every  saint  has  known  the  Lord  and  His  grace  in  a 
peculiar  and  individual  way,  which  no  one  beside  can 
possibly  understand  or  enter  into  ;  and  where  a  name 
is  given  which  expresses  the  character  of  the  bond 
which  unites  the  soul  to  Christ ,  only  the  one  who  is 
conscious  of  the  exercises  of  vSoul  connected  with  its 
formation  can  understand  the  processes  by  which  it 
was  formed,  or  the  joy  of  an  ever  present  reminder. 

We  have  now  reached  the  conclusion  of  the  first 
section  of  these  deeply  interesting  epistles.  The  seven 
are  divided,  as  many  such  presentations  are,  into  three 


A  DISSERTATION   THEREON.  37 

and  four,  and  the  number  three  connects  itself  rather 
with  God's  side  while  four  is  that  which  belongs  to 
humanity.  Three  churches,  or  church  periods,  had  run 
their  course,  and,  much  as  there  was  to  condemn,  there 
was  no  profession  of  Christ,  recognised  as  such,  beyond 
their  pales.  The  injunction  to  hear  the  word  of  the 
Spirit  was  general,  and  after  its  appeal,  were  the 
blessed  promises  to  the  overcomer  ;  henceforth  how- 
ever the  promises  precede  the  injunction,  and  while  it 
is  general,  it  is  after  all  only  the  overcomer  who  will 
have  had  ears  to  hear. 

Mural  inscriptions  at  Thyatira  give  us  a  know- 
ledge of  many  things  relating  to  this  city  of  Seleucus 
Nicator  as  to  which  history  is  silent.  We  learn  that 
outside  the  walls  was  a  fane  dedicated  to  Sambatha,  a 
Jewish-Chaldeo-Persian  sybil,  whose  oracular  utter- 
ances would  appeal  to  the  superstition  of  Jewish  chris- 
tians, who  were  not  established  in  divine  principles,  as 
well  as  to  the  worshippers  of  Trymnas  and  Artemis. 
No  wonder  then  that  they  should  be  told  that  the  all- 
searching  scrutiny  of  those  eyes  that  were  as  a  flame 
of  fire,  but  leads  to  burning,  inflexible  judgment,  where 
there  is  unholy  and  illicit  intercourse  with  idolatry. 

The  child  of  God  will  find  the  warning  as  solemn, 
and  the  promises  as  encouraging,  here  as  elsewhere  ; 
for   moral   conditions,    although    presenting   different 


38  THE  APOCALYPSE. 

aspects,  at  different  epochs,  are  in  essence  always  the 
same  ;  and  every  christian,  at  all  times,  is  bound  to 
separate  from  evil  whether  moral  or  doctrinal.  Is 
there  a  recognition  of  the  Lordship  of  Christ?  Let 
every  one  that  nameth  His  name  depart  from  iniquity. 
The  apostle  who  wrote  this  book  could  say  at  another 
time,  "Little  children  keep  3'ourselves  from  idols," 
and  idol  worship  includes  something  more  than  bowing 
down  to  an  image  of  Buddha.  The  One  who  searcheth 
the  reins  and  hearts,  knows,  not  only  the  designs 
which  are  waiting  an  opportunity  for  execution,  but 
the  deeper  things  which  have  not  5'et  taken  shape  ;  all 
these  will  be  judged  in  truth  and  righteousness.  The 
faithful  spouse  repudiates  and  rejects  everything  that 
would  be  displeasing  to  her  husband.  She  does  not 
try  to  walk  as  close  to  defilement  as  possible  without 
being  defiled  ;  and  the  christian,  in  like  manner,  true 
to  the  One  who  has  won  his  heart,  does  not  adjust  the 
balances  which  weigh  his  conduct  with  such  extreme 
nicety  as  to  be  able  to  mark  the  point  at  which,  what 
is  called  harm,  deflects  the  beam  ;  but  fleeing  from  all 
forms  of  idolatry,  all  recognition  of  idol- worship  by 
abstaining  from  partaking  of  things  sacrificed  to  idols, 
all  spiritual  fornication  and  adultery  by  intercourse 
therewith,  desires  only  to  please  the  One  who  has 
attracted  and  won  the  heart. 


A  DISSERTATION  THEREON.  39 

The  day  is  coming  when  our  blessed  I^ord  will 
take  to  Himself  His  great  power  and  will  reigu  ;  how 
amazing  the  thought  that  His  saints  will  be  associated 
with  Him  in  His  government.  Many  who  are  held  by 
the  proud  world  to  be  contemptible  now,  will  be  glori- 
fied beings  then.  But  this,  to  those  who  should  heed 
it,  has  become  trite  ;  they  have  the  present,  the  future 
no  man  knows  anything  about ;  why  should  present 
ease  and  enjoyment  be  sacrificed,  through  apprehen- 
sion of  future  judgments  which  may  never  be  inflicted  ; 
or,  if  inflicted,  may  be  of  a  character  quite  different 
from  what  is  threatened ;  and  so  the  vessels  of 
wrath  harden  themselves  to  destruction,  while  the 
child  of  the  light  awaits  the  shining  forth  of  the 
morning  star  which  precedes  the  rising  of  the  orb  of 
day. 

When  ecclesiastical  authority  had  taken  definite 
shape  in  the  appointment  of  a  hierarchy,  the  bishop  of 
Rome  was  but  one  among  many  bishops  and  with  no 
greater  powers,  but  having  been  asked  on  one  occasion 
to  arbitrate  in  a  matter  of  difference  between  two 
bishops  ;  then  afterwards,  tendering  his  ofl&ces  as  arbi- 
trator from  time  to  time,  and  finally  by  commanding 
the  reference  of  disputed  questions  to  his  arbitrament, 
he  succeeded  in  acquiring  a  supremacy  which  was 
greatly  increased,  when  Constantine  removed  the  seat 


4©  THE  APOCALYPSE. 

of  his  empire  to  Byzantium,  and  left  him  to  be  the 
most  important  personage  at  Rome. 

What  we  know  as  Roman  Catholicism  was  of  slow 
growth,  for  while  its  principles  were  seen  at  a  very 
early  age,  its  full  development  was  the  result  of  the 
accretion  of  many  baneful  influences,  not  the  least  of 
which  was  the  doctrine  of  the  nicolaitanes  and  the 
doctrine  of  Balaam  ;  but  to  these  was  added  a  still 
further  advance  in  wickedness,  3'et  along  the  very  lines 
that  had  produced  a  state  of  things  which  made  Jeze- 
bel a  possibility.  That  wicked  woman  had  usurped 
authority  which  the  king  only  should  have  wielded, 
and  she  used  it  for  infamous  purposes.  Baal  worship 
became  almost  the  universal  religion  under  her  fostering 
care,  and  she  could  also  say  to  her  husband,  "I  will 
give  thee  the  vineyard  of  Naboth  the  Jezreelite. ' '  Her 
name  continues  to  the  present  day  as  a  by -word,  and  a 
reproach. 

We  have  seen  how  early,  in  the  history  of  the 
church  of  God,  the  evil  principle  which  would  place  a 
section  of  that  church  in  an  inferior  position,  existed  ; 
how  it  took  form  in  first  bringing  the  laos,  the  laity, 
into  subjection  ;  then  by  destroying  them,  by  barring 
their  approach  to  God,  and  finally  by  a  woman  teach- 
ing and  seducing  the  Lord's  servants  to  practice  those 
things  which  were  an   abomination  to  Him.     Thus, 


A  DISSERTATION  THEREON.  4I 

link  by  link,  the  chain  was  riveted  which  bound  the 
professing  church  for  centuries  in  medieval  darkness, 
and  such  was  Thyatira.  But  what  about  Jezebel  ?  At 
first  the  church  of  God  was  composed  of  every  believer, 
but  as  a  result  of  the  successive  stages  which  we  have 
been  considering,  the  church  in  the  Thyatira  period 
was  merely  the  hierarchy,  and  this  church  assumed  the 
prerogatives  only  rightly  belonging  to  its  Head  ;  the 
woman  who  was  enjoined  to  silence  and  subjection 
became  the  teacher,  displacing  the  divine  Teacher,  and 
as  we  learn  from  the  Lord's  parable  in  Matthew,  only 
to  insert  leaven  into  the  three  measures  of  meal,  the 
fine  flour  of  the  meat  offering — in  fact  the  very  body 
of  Christ — in  which  there  was  to  be  neither  leaven, 
nor  honey.  That  church  which  had  been  espoused  as 
a  chaste  virgin  to  Christ  had  fallen  so  low  that  only 
one  of  the  most  infamous  women  whose  history  has 
come  down  to  us,  could  be  taken  as  representing  its 
state  and  characteristics.  The  papacy  then,  if  the 
meaning  of  the  figures  has  been  apprehended,  stands 
clearly  out  as  being  in  the  very  fore-front  of  a  system 
which  Thyatira  presents.  Not  indeed  as  making  an 
epoch,  or  distinct  church  period,  which  the  three  preced- 
ing ones  had  done,  for  there  are  children  who  are  to  be 
killed,  and  like  the  remaining  three  churches  it  is  in 
existence  when  the  Lord  comes  ;  but  while  it  has  not 


^2  THE  APOCALYPSK. 

a  distinctly  exclusive  corporate  existence,  there  is  a. 
distinct  ecclesiastical  state,  whose  principles,  coming 
to  a  head  in  the  fourth  century,  and  dominating  the 
professing  church  almost  in  its  entirety  for  eleven 
centuries,  has  still  its  unwearied  propaganda ;  and  its 
hideous  mien  looks  out  from  many  a  colored  pane  than 
those  avowedly  roman. 

Art  lent  her  assistance  to  Jezebel ;  painting,  music, 
sculpture  and  architecture,  vied  with  each  other  to 
embellish  and  make  attractive  the  body  from  which 
the  soul  had  departed,  and  when  the  moral  sensibilities 
became  clouded  through  sensuous  accessories,  the 
devil,  although  he  might  not  be  able  to  bring  in 
Ashtoreth,  ' '  the  queen  of  heaven  ' '  of  the  Babylonians, 
as  an  object  of  worship ;  3'et  if  he  could  place  the 
blessed  mother  of  the  Lord  on  the  same  pedestal  he 
would  have  accomplished  his  purpose,  and  he  did  it. 
The  heathen,  in  worshipping  idols,  were  in  fact  worship- 
ping devils  ;  but  if  human  beings  who  had  died,  how- 
ever holy  their  lives  might  have  been,  or  however 
immoral,  could  be  appealed  to  as  intercessors,  it  would 
still  be  demon  worship,  for  the  demons,  although 
unseen  and  unsuspected,  were  really  directing  all. 
Besides  all  this,  the  terrors  of  God's  judgment  on  the 
ungodly  were  mitigated  or  removed  by  the  invention, 
Satanic  indeed  in  its  inception,  of  an  intermediate  state 


A  DISSERTATION   THEREON.  43 

after  death  where  the  progress  of  the  sinner  on  his 
downward  course  to  hell  was  arrested,  until  such  time 
as  his  relatives  on  earth  could  pay  for  the  masses  that 
would  release  his  soul  from  the  durance  of  purgatory, 
and  bring  him  into  the  glory  of  the  paradise  of  God  ; 
his  foul  and  spotted  soul  cleansed  by  the  paters  and 
aves  of  sinners  vile  as  he  !  How  amazing  that  intelli- 
gent beings  should  be  so  credulous  as  to  believe  such 
inventions. 

The  message  is  sent  by  the  Son  of  God  ;  and  in  no 
other  epistle  does  the  Lord  take  that  character,  and  in 
no  other  would  it  be  so  fitting,  as  to  that  church  which 
ever  presents  Him  as  the  Son  of  Mary.  The  Son  of 
God,  with  eyes  as  a  flame  of  fire,  and  feet  like  fine 
brass,  is  surely  a  presentation  as  far  as  possible  re- 
moved from  the  infant  in  the  arms  of  madonna.  And 
the  hymns  which  have  come  down  to  us,  do  they  not 
persistently  elevate  and  exalt  Mary,  and  just  as  per- 
sistently degrade  the  blessed  Lord  by  making  Him 
subject  to,  and  practically  inferior  to  her.  But  even 
in  Thyatira  there  is  a  remnant  of  grace,  "the  rest," 
in  whom  is  love,  and  faith,  and  service,  and  endurance, 
and  whose  last  works  are  more  than  the  first ;  who 
have  not  the  horrid  doctrines,  nor  have  known  the 
depths  of  Satan  as  they  speak  ;  and  while  the  au- 
thorities have  before  them  as  a  guiding  principle  the 


44  THE  APOCALYPSE. 

subjugation  of  nations  as  well  as  individuals,  the 
remnant  of  grace  will  hereafter  be  associated  with  the 
Lord  Himself,  who  will  then  reign  from  the  river  to 
the  ends  of  the  earth  ;  having  conferred  upon  them  the 
same  power  and  authority,  which,  in  the  second  psalm, 
He  Himself  is  to  receive  from  Jehovah  ;  so  that  not  only 
does  the  epistle  begin  in  a  manner  consistent  with 
what  is  to  be  presented,  but  the  promise  of  reward  is 
also  in  keeping  with  the  existing  state  of  things. 


A  DISSERTATION  THEREON.  45. 


CHAPTER  III. 


Whatever  may  have  been  the  producing  cause,  a 
lethargy  existed  in  the  church  of  Sardis,  which  not 
only  prevented  the  giving  forth  of  a  testimony  to  the 
grace  of  God  ;  but  which,  by  a  continued  progress  in 
declension,  had  become  well  nigh  lifeless.  The  One 
whose  glory  should  have  been  reflected  in  the  stars 
which  were  His,  but  not  now  said  to  be  held  in  His 
right  hand  ;  and  who  looked  for  a  response  in  His  own, 
to  the  energy  of  the  Holy  Spirit's  operations,  found 
nothing  to  commend  in  the  general  condition  at  Sardis. 

If  there  is  one  thing  more  than  another  which  the 
child  of  God  has  to  guard  against,  it  is  the  negligence 
and  indifference  as  to  divine  things  which  prepare  the 
heart  for  the  toleration  of  that  which  is  positively 
Christ-dishonoring.  What  is  the  chief  end  of  man,  if 
not  to  glorify  God  and  enjoy  Him  forever  ?  Yet  do 
we  not  see  on  all  sides  the  most  heartless  and  callous 
indifference  as  to  His  claims,  and  His  holy  will ;  the 
prevailing  thought,  even  among  those  who  are  called 
by  His  name,  being,  that  the  chief  end  of  man  is,  after 
having  made  things  right  for  the  next  world,  to  go  in 


46  THE  APOCALYPSE. 

as  largely  as  possible  for  everythiug  that  the  present 
world  can  give.  Alas  !  that  the  holy  name  of  Christ, 
through  those  who  claim  to  be  His,  should  be  dragged 
in  the  dust,  not  only  by  the  objects  christians  have  so 
often  before  them,  but  also  much  more  by  the  means 
through  which  those  objects  are  sought  to  be  obtained. 
On  Sunday,  and  it  may  be  on  other  special  occasions, 
there  is  usually  an  air  of  piety  and  devotion,  which 
finds  no  place,  indeed  would  be  out  of  keeping,  in  the 
frivolity'  and  worldliness  of  the  drawing-room,  or  the 
iiard  unrighteousness  of  the  counting  house.  There  is 
a  name  to  live,  but  dead  withal,  and  yet  a  greater 
responsibility  from  what  had  been  received  and  heard, 
than  where  the  truth  was  unknown  ;  but  judgment 
was  coming  with  noiseless  steps  and  it  would  burst 
upon  all  these  lifeless  ones  with  overwhelming  power. 
Thank  God  there  is  a  faithful  remnant  in  Sardis,  as 
there  was  in  Thyatira,  and  the  blessed  promises  made 
to  them,  we  can  without  rapine  appropriate.  How  it 
touches  the  heart  to  be  told  of  walking  in  white,  with 
our  adorable  Saviour  in  the  paradise  of  God,  because 
of  undefilcd  garments  here  ;  and,  because  of  overcom- 
ing, be  clothed  in  white  raiment.  We  shall  see  in  a 
later  chapter  that  the  white  raiment  is  the  righteousness 
of  saints.  His  name  would  not  be  blotted  out  of  the 
book  of  life,  but  ah  !  how  many  names  will  be.     The 


A  DISSERTATION  THEREON.  47 

.church  registers  of  this  world,  which  should  only 
contain  the  names  of  those  who  have  life  in  Christ, 
will  present  a  sadly  blotted  and  disfigured  appearance 
in  that  day  ;  and  search  tt\en  may  be  made  in  vain, 
for  names  which  had  been  written  in  very  large  letters 
on  the  books  of  this  world's  profession.  You  who 
have  shrunk,  it  may  be,  from  what  you  are  pleased  to 
call  an  ostentatious  parading  of  your  religion  ;  but  which 
should  have  been  a  decided  confession  of  the  name  of 
Christ  ;  what  will  be  your  feelings  as  you  hear  the 
name  of  one  you  have  thought  unnecessarily  pro- 
nounced in  his  profession,  proclaimed  before  His  Father 
and  before  His  angels  ? 

The  promises  here,  as  elsewhere,  will  be  seen  to 
be  perfectly  in  keeping  with  the  state  of  things  in 
Sardis,  because  they  are  in  marked  contrast  therewith. 

The  darkness  that  overspread  Europe  when 
Teetzel  hawked  his  indulgences  from  town  to  town, 
was  an  egyptian  darkness  ;  a  darkness  that  might  be 
felt.  It  is  impossible  to  conceive  a  more  degraded 
thought  of  the  holiness  and  righteousness  of  God, 
than  that,  for  money  ;  as  though  He  needed  money  ; 
He  would  sell  for  a  specified  period  an  indulgence  to 
commit  sin  !  He  who  is  so  holy  that  He  cannot  look 
upon  sin  with  the  least  degree  of  allowance  or  appro- 
t)ation.     But  when  this  state  of  things  had  reached  its 


48  THE  APOCALYPSE. 

climax,  the  Spirit  of  God  moved  a  monk  to  leave  his 
cloister  and  raise  a  standard  against  it.  The  protest- 
ant  reformation,  while  it  did  not  succeed  Thj-atira,  and 
become  an  epoch  in  church  history,  was  nevertheless  a 
distinct  issue,  and  the  producer  of  a  church  state  which 
has  gone  on  side  by  side  with  romanism  for  three 
hundred  years,  and  both  will  be  here  for  judgment 
when  the  Lord  comes.  I  have  no  doubt  there  are 
those  who  will  strongly  resist  the  application  of  Sardis 
to  protestantism  ;  those  who  think  things  are  going  on 
ver>'  satisfactorily  in  the  religious  world  ;  and  that  the 
time  is  coming  when  the  world  will  be  converted  to 
Christianity  by  the  agencies  now  abroad.  One  has 
but  to  listen  to  the  solemn  words  of  the  Lord  Himself 
as  well  as  to  those  of  His  servant  Paul,  to  know  that  in 
the  last  days  perilous  times  shall  come. 

When  IvUther  nailed  his  theses  to  the  door  of  the 
church  in  Wittemberg  on  the  last  day  of  October,  151 7, 
a  direct  issue  was  taken  with  Rome,  which  twelve 
years  later  was  followed  by  the  celebrated  protest  of 
the  elector  of  Saxony  and  others,  against  the  proposal 
of  the  diet  of  Spire  to  stop  any  further  innovations  in 
respect  to  the  mass,  or  other  religious  matters,  until  an 
oecumenical  council  could  be  called.  But  although 
neither  the  one  nor  the  other  of  these  acts  had  much 
more   than  a   negative  character,   yet  behind  all   the 


A  DISSERTATION  THEREON.  49 

movement,  which  contained  so  large  a  human  element, 
and  in  so  far  deplorable,  the  Spirit  of  God  was  raising 
for  settlement  the  one  cardinal  question,  as  to  how 
souls  are  brought  into  relationship  with  God  ;  and  the 
issue  has  been  of  incalculable  blessing  to  millions  of 
souls  since,  who  have  learned  that  by  simple  faith  in  a 
crucified  and  risen  Saviour,  and  not  by  works  of 
righteousness,  the  sinner  is  received  into  the  blessed 
favor  of  God,  and  given  an  inheritance  with  all  them 
that  are  sanctified  in  Christ  Jesus.  There  was  per- 
haps but  one  substantial  step  made  at  the  reformation, 
but  that  was  an  immense  one ;  it  was  in  fact  revolu- 
tionary, and  has  been  the  basis  of  all  real  progressive 
work  since.  Why  then,  it  may  be  asked,  when  a 
protest  had  been  raised,  and  a  testimony  established, 
against  the  teaching  of  Jezebel,  should  such  a  state 
supervene  as  that  which  Sardis  illustrates  ?  No  doubt 
many  influences  were  at  work  to  frustrate  as  much  as 
possible  the  effect  of  what  the  Holy  Spirit  had  wrought 
through  the  little  company  of  blessed  men  who  had 
arrived  at  a  knowledge  of  the  forgiveness  of  sins  by  a 
road  upon  which  Rome  had  set  up  notices  innumerable, 
such  as  "No  thoroughfare,"  "  Dangerous,"  but  which 
they  had  found  to  be  the  only  way  of  approach  to  God. 
There  were  however  two  prime  reasons  which  checked 
the  power  of  this  remarkable  upheaval  and  soon  led  to 


50  THE  APOCALYPSE. 

a  lifeless  profession.  It  was  doubtless  a  great  thing  to 
shake  off  the  yoke  of  Rome,  but  having  done  so,  after 
having  been  borne  down  by  the  galling  burden,  they 
proceeded  to  place  themselves  under  another  yoke, 
which,  if  less  burdensome,  was  still  a  j'oke  and  a 
bondage.  We  who  have  been  brought  to  God  know 
that  the  L,ord  Jesus  is  a  Son  over  His  house.  We 
know  furthermore,  that  His  L,ordship  is  continually 
pressed  in  the  new  testament  ;  that  there  is  but  one 
Lord,  one  faith,  one  baptism  ;  so  that  the  assumption 
of  the  Pope  of  Rome  to  exercise  an  authority  which 
'  the  Lord  had  not  delegated,  was  clearl)^  unscriptural, 
and  when  the  reformers  accepted  the  civil  rulers  as  the 
heads  and  authorities  of  the  church,  they  placed  them- 
selves, unconsciously  it  may  be,  in  a  position  which 
took  away  largely  the  spirit  of  dependence  upon  the 
risen  and  glorified  Head,  transferring  it  to  these,  who 
without  intending  it,  had  usurped  His  place  and 
authority.  Furthermore,  while  salvation  by  faith  in 
Christ  was  preached,  one  has  only  to  look  at  the 
writings  of  the  reformers  to  see  how  large  a  place 
baptism  had  in  their  thoughts  as  connected  with  faith, 
for  salvation.  There  was  besides,  a  re-action  from  a 
religion  of  works  to  the  neglect  of  works,  for  while 
valueless  for  salvation,  we  find  when  saved  that  God 
had  foreordained  that  we  should  walk  in  them. 


A  DISSERTATION  THERKON.  51 

If  there  was  not  repentance  and  watching,  the 
One  who  had  the  seven  Spirits  of  God,  and  the  seven 
stars  would  come  upon  them  as  a  thief  ;  thus  the 
Sardis  state  like  that  of  Thyatira,  goes  on  to  the  lyord's 
coming,  and  the  character  which  it  took  in  the  early 
part  of  the  sixteenth  century,  it  does  not  change,  until 
judgment  descends  upon  the  world,  and  Sardis  finds  its 
doom  with  it,  for  indeed  it  is  a  part  of  the  world. 

How  blessed  it  was  for  those  dear  saints,  who,  as 
the  first  century  was  drawing  to  a  close,  found  them- 
selves in  such  an  association  as  that  at  Philadelphia, 
where  the  name  of  the  city  in  which  they  lived 
characterised  the  relationship  which  existed  between 
them.  The  fame  of  tne  wine  of  Philadelphia  has  been 
celebrated  by  heathen  poets,  as  well  as  stamped  upon  the 
coinage  of  the  city  ;  but  the  true  wine,  which  is  only 
tasted  through  communion  with  God,  these  dear  saints 
enjoyed  in  such  manner  that  the  Holy  Spirit  has  kept 
for  us  in  this  epistle  a  memorial  of  it,  like  as  the  golden 
pot  of  manna  was  laid  up  in  the  ark  ;  and  as  to  the 
future,  the  doors  of  the  storehouse  of  love  are  thrown 
wide  open,  that  the  beloved  ones  might  see  with 
rapture  the  marvellous  treasures  laid  up  for  them 
against  that  time  when  they  would  drink  the  true 
philadelphian  wine,  in  a  new  way,  with  the  adorable 
Object  of  their  hearts  affections  in  the  coming  kingdom. 


52  THE  APOCALYPSE. 

Happy  Philadelphians  !  blessed  saints  of  God  !  our 
hearts  have  gone  out  to  you  in  affectionate  remem- 
brance, as  we  wait  for  the  time  when  in  the  paradise 
of  God  we  shall  bind  more  c  osely  those  blessed  bonds 
of  brotherly  love  which  have  united  us  to  you. 

Fellow  christian,  do  you  ove  the  brethren  ? 
Does  your  heart  go  out  in  brotherly  affection  to  every 
known  child  of  God?  This  you  know  is  the  mark 
which  the  scriptures  give  by  which  you  may  know  if 
you  yourself  are  in  the  faith  ;  it  is  a  positive  command  : 
"That  he  who  loveth  God,  love  his  brother  also." 
You  are  not  required  to  have  fellowship  with  the  waj'S, 
or  condone  the  acts  of  those  who  are  walking  according 
to  the  course  of  this  world  ;  but  j-ou  are  enjoined,  in 
numberless  passages,  to  show  your  love  for  the 
brethren,  both  by  example  and  practice.  Alas  ! 
because  "  they  follow  not  with  us,"  there  is  the 
' '  biting  and  devouring  one  another. ' ' 

It  was  the  prayer  of  the  blessed  Lord  that  they 
might  all  be  one,  that  the  world  might  know  that  the 
Father  had  sent  Him  ;  but  now  when  He  asks, 
"  Where  is  my  flock,  my  beautiful  flock,"  there  is  no 
reply  ;  and  the  angels  may  well  weep  at  the  heart- 
breaking sight  of  the  different  members  of  the  body  of 
Christ  in  violent  antagonism  one  towards  another,  and 


A  DISSERTATION  THEREON.  53 

the  Lord  robbed  of  His  glory,  which  He  should  have 
had  in  His  church. 

It  is  very  blessed  to  be  a  philadelphian  ;  for  as  such, 
there  is  not  only  the  sense  of  divine  favor,  but  the 
reciprocal  affection  which  is  sure  to  be  evoked  where  it 
is  in  practice.  Love  is  of  God  ;  God  is  love  ;  and 
although  the  devil  has  brought  in  his  counterfeit  here 
as  elsewhere,  presenting  his  human  formula  of  ' '  love 
to  the  neighbor, ' '  the  christian  has  to  remember  the 
word  which  has  come  to  him  from  another  source," 
' '  He  that  loveth  Him  that  begat  loveth  him  also  that 
is  begotten  of  Him." 

It  is  blessed  to  be  a  philadelphian,  but  O  how 
blessed  to  be  an  overcomer  in  Philadelphia.  How 
entrancing  the  promises  to  such.  First,  he  shall  be  a 
pillar  in  that  marvellous  structure  for  which  the  Spirit 
of  God  is  preparing  the  living  stones  in  the  distant 
quarry.  Child  of  God  do  you  desire  to  be  a  pillar  in 
that  temple?  If  so,  remember  that  the  polished 
shafts  which  adorn  the  facades  of  great  buildings  are 
only  brought  to  that  state  of  beauty  by  a  long  continued 
process  of  grinding  and  polishing.  Who  could  recog- 
nize in  that  beautiful  pillar  which  is  the  admiration  of 
every  passer,  the  rough  block  of  granite,  without  a 
particle  of  beauty,  which  some  time  before  had  passed 
us  on  its  way  to  the  finishing  house.       We  would  like 


54  THE  APOCALYPSE. 

to  be  all,  and  have  all,  that  we  read  of  without  passing- 
along  the  road  which  leads  to  what  we  desire.  We 
would  like  to  order  our  own  paths,  and  a  sorrj'  mess 
we  would  make  of  it  if  allowed  to  do  so.  Be  a.ssured 
that  the  place  in  which  j^ou  are,  if  it  is  one  in  which 
you  can  "  abide  with  God,"  is  the  place  in  which  He 
has  put  you,  and  j^ou  can  glorify  Him  there  in  a  way 
3-ou  could  not  do  anywhere  else.  A  3'oung  christian 
wanted  her  life  wholly  devoted  to  the  I^ord,  and  she 
prayed  earnestly  that  she  might  have  it  so  ordered 
that  she  could  best  .serve  Him.  After  passing  forty 
years  on  a  bed  of  sickness  and  suffering  where  she  had 
witnessed  for  her  Master  and  been  used  of  Him  in  an 
exceptionally  blessed  way,  she  touchingly  remarked  ; 
' '  I  did  not  think  it  would  have  been  after  this  manner, ' ' 
' '  I  will  write  upon  him  the  name  of  my  God,  the  name  of 
the  city  of  my  God  and  my  new  name." 

If  we  meet  one  who  has  given  himself  up  to  a 
sensuous  life,  we  say  that  bestiality  is  stamped  on 
every  lineament  of  his  face  ;  and  on  the  contrary,  if 
one  is  walking  with  God,  how  apparent  it  is.  In  that 
day  of  undistraction,  the  work  grace  has  wrought  in 
the  soul  is  unmistakeably  in  evidence.  ' '  And  my  new 
name,"  what  is  that?  It  is  remarkable  that  the  word 
used  when  speaking  of  the  Lord  Jesus  in  His  sacrificial 
aspect  differs  in  the  revelation  from  that  used  elsewhere. 


A  DISSERTATION   THEREON.  55 

In  the  gospel  of  John  He  is  the  Amnos,  the  L,amb  of 
God  ;  in  this  book  He  is  the  Arnion,  the  Httle  I^amb. 
If  He  presented  Himself  as  the  Lamb  of  God  that 
taketli  away  the  sin  of  the  world,  it  but  proved  the 
perversity  of  the  human  heart  which  saw  no  beauty  in 
Him,  and  esteemed  Him  but  as  a  root  out  of  the  dry 
ground.  They  that  passed  by  wagged  their  heads 
saying,  ' '  If  thou  be  the  Son  of  God  come  down 
from  the  cross."  Despised  and  rejected  of  men,  His 
humiliation  was  complete,  yet,  in  that  sphere  of 
indescribable  glory  stands  ' '  an  Arnion  as  it  had  been 
slain."  He  bears  in  heaven  the  marks  of  His  abase- 
ment, and  ever  reminds  His  own  to  what  a  depth  He 
had  descended  for  their  ransom,  when  He  sold  all  that 
He  had  to  purchase  the  field  in  which  the  treasure  lay 
concealed.  Not  only  so,  but  with  wondrous  grace.  He 
identifies  with  Himself  the  philadelphian  overcomer 
as  one  who  had  ' '  continued  with  Him  in  His  tempta- 
tion," and  perpetuates  the  faithfulness  which  in  His 
grace  He  had  given  the  energy  for.  Blessed  and 
adorable  Saviour  ! 

It  is  quite  evident  that  there  is  not,  and  has  not 
been,  any  corporate  embodiment  of  Philadelphia.  I 
am  aware  that  the  principles  are  professed  by  some  who 
reject  every  cardinal  truth  of  revealed  religion,  and 
individually  undertake  their  own   salvation,  but   the 


56  THE  APOCALYPSE. 

travesty  is  of  so  gross  a  character  that  only  those  who 
commit  themselves  to  satanic  influences  could  be 
deceived  by  it.  One  thing  is  evident,  that  western 
Europe,  where  the  sardis  state  was  developed,  soon 
sank  into  a  death-like  lethargy  until  the  Holy  Spirit 
again,  two  hundred  years  later  began  raising  up,  and 
energising,  gifted  servants  with  different  degrees  of 
capacity,  and  different  lines  of  service,  but  all  tending 
to  philadelphianism  ;  and  although  sections  of  the 
professing  church  have  sunk  so  low  as  to  be  mere 
agencies  for  the  amusement  or  instruction  of  the  guilty 
world,  yet  in  all  the  deepening  gloom  there  is  an  increas- 
ing energy  of  the  Spirit,  until  philadelphians  are  met 
in  many  unexpected  places,  and  the  assurance  is  given 
that  they  will  hear  the  welcome  shout,  and  quickly, 
which  will  call  them  up  to  a  scene  where  love  is 
indigenous,  and  not  exotic. 

The  Lord  presents  Himself  as  the  hol}^  the  true, 
not  so  much  what  He  is  doing  as  what  He  is,  and,  as 
ever,  in  keeping  with  the  state  He  has  found,  but  also, 
for  the  only  time  in  these  epistles,  except  in  the  word 
to  Smyrna,  we  have  Jewish  accessories  ;  wlij'  is  this? 
In  addition  to  the  philadelphian  revival  in  protestant- 
ism there  has  been  also  another  and  remarkable  revival, 
not  indeed  leading  souls  into  the  liberty  and  joy  of 
known  relationship  with  God  ;  but  with  many  pious 


A  DISSERTATION  THEREON.  57 

sentiments,  austerity  of  manners,  and  devotedness  of 
life,  presenting  a  religion  of  works,  which  can  provide 
neither  peace  of  conscience  nor  rest  of  heart  ;  but  like 
the  insatiable  horse-leech's  daughters  sending  up  a 
continual  cry  of.  Give,  give  !  the  tractarians  here,  and 
similar  propagandists  elsewhere,  became  the  modern 
representatives  of  galatian  troublers  whom  the  apostle 
desired  cut  off.  It  was  in  effect  an  imitation  of  the 
Jewish  sj^nagogue  and  in  so  far  as  it  sought  to  set  up 
again  that  which  God  had  brought  to  an  end  in  the 
cross  of  Christ,  it  was  satanic  ;  yet  with  proud  self- 
assertion  it  could  contemptuously  disdain  those  who 
were  identified  with  the  true  Son  of  David,  in  whose 
hands  was  the  key  which  others  might  claim  to  have, 
hut  had  not,  and  who  had  set  before  His  little  despised 
company  of  faithful  souls  an  opened  door,  which  none 
could  shut. 

Their  strength  was  small,  a  very  feeble  folk,  but 
the  day  is  coming  when  the  proud  pharisee,  if  he  had 
an  homage  to  present,  would  find  himself  abased  as  low 
as  the  feet  of  the  despised  ones ;  a  standing  principle 
of  God's  government,  as  well  as  its  counterpart,  that 
he  that  humbleth  himself  shall  be  exalted. 

Marked  characteristics  of  philadelphianism  are, 
keeping  His  word  and  not  denying  His  name.  Many 
things  have  contributed  during  this  century  to  create 


58  THE  APOCALYPSE. 

or  increase  an  interest  in  the  ^vorcl  of  God  ;  and  as  the 
precious  volume  has  become  more  known,  it  has  been 
more  highly  prized,  saints  finding  it  indeed  not  only 
a  lamp  to  the  feet  and  a  light  to  the  path,  but  a  source 
of  joy,  of  strength,  of  comfort,  and  consolation  to  the 
weary  pilgrim.  The  enemy  of  souls  has  not  seen  this 
latter-day  revival  of  interest  in  the  word  of  God  with- 
out taking  steps  to  counteract  it  ;  and  his  mode  of 
acting  is  ever  the  same.  Long  ago  at  Philippi  he  sent 
a  damsel,  who  was  possessed  with  a  spirit  of  Python, 
to  cry  after  the  apostles,  that  * '  These  men  are  the 
servants  of  the  most  high  God,  which  show  unto  us 
the  way  of  salvation."  He  assumes  to  be  the  most 
ardent  champion  for  the  truth,  until,  obtaining  control 
of  the  movement,  he  turns  it  into  a  channel  where  it 
ceases  to  be  the  truth,  and  becomes  a  lie  ;  so  that  it  is 
judged  by  many  to  have  never  been  but  a  lie.  Wit- 
ness the  precious  truth  of  the  Lord's  coming  for  His 
saints,  given  for  their  comfort,  which  so  great  a 
number  reject,  because  the  assurances  so  frequently 
given  that  He  would  come  at  a  specified  time  have  not 
been  fulfilled.  And  how  persistently  the  inspiration  of 
the  bible,  the  authorship  of  the  pentateuch,  and  the 
revelation  of  God's  purposes  in  prophecy,  which  old 
testament  .scriptures  contain,  are  contested  by  pro- 
fessed ser\'ants  of  Chri.st,  men  whose  titles  give  them  a 


A   DISSERTATION    xniEREON.  59 

quasi  autliority  to  expound  the  meaning  of  the 
scriptures,  a  meaning  which  many  of  them  have  never 
grasped. 

To  Pergamos  it  could  be  said:  "Thou  holdest 
fast  my  name,  and  hast  not  denied  my  faith."  To 
Philadelphia  :  ' '  Thou  hast  kept  my  word,  and  hast 
not  denied  my  name."  How  vast  the  difference! 
There  may  be  a  taking  upon  one  the  name  of  Christ, 
and  although  there  may  not  be  an  earnest  contention 
for  the  faith  once  committed  to  the  saints,  yet  not  an 
absolute  denial  of  it,  and  withal,  not  a  particle  of 
reality  ;  but  the  keeping  of  His  word  which  He  hath 
magnified  above  all  His  name  ;  not  commandments 
merely  ;  not  words  even,  but  the  knowledge  of  His 
holy  will  through  intimate  relationship;  the  expression 
of  His  mind,  His  word  ;  this  it  is  which  is  grateful 
to  the  Lord's  heart,  and  the  confession  of  His  name 
cannot  but  follow. 

But  not  only  is  the  Lord  coming;  a  day  of  great 
trial  for  the  whole  habitable  world  is  coming  also  ;  and 
although,  in  wonderful  patience,  God  is  graciously 
waiting  on  a  guilty  world  which  not  only  crucified 
His  beloved  Son,  but  for  nearly  nineteen  centuries  has 
continued  to  reject  the  testimony  of  His  Holy  Spirit, 
until  forbearance  can  go  no  further,  and  God  will 
shortly  proceed  to  do  His  work,  His  strange  work,  and 


6o  THE  APOCALYPSE. 

cut  it  short  in  righteousness  ;  but,  blessed  assurance, 
not  a  single  philadelphian  will  pass  through  that  awful 
tribulation. 

There  remains  for  our  consideration  but  the  church 
in  L,aodicea,  and  who,  in  reading  the  history  of  these 
churches,  but  would  be  impressed  with  the  different 
state  of  things  prevailing  in  contiguous  places,  as  at 
Philadelphia  where  there  was  nothing  to  condemn,  to 
Laodicea,  where  there  was  nothing  to  commend. 

Re-built,  and  re-named,  to  do  honor  to  Queen 
Laodicea,  the  assembl}^  seems  to  have  caught  some- 
thing of  the  spirit  of  self-complacency,  which  the 
association  with,  and  favor  of  royalty  had  given  the 
inhabitants  of  this  cit}',  and  nothing  more  effectually 
blinds  the  eyes  to  a  true  judgment  of  a  moral  condition 
than  this.  Far  more  estimable  in  their  own  eyes  than 
either  the  neighboring  assemblies  of  Smyrna  or 
Philadelphia,  they  had  to  learn  from  the  lips  of  the 
faithful  and  true  witness,  that  the  things  in  which 
they  were  priding  themselves  were  of  no  value  in  the 
nevv'  creation  where  all  things  were  of  God,  and  of 
which  His  Son,  the  faithful  and  true  witness,  was  the 
beginning. 

Reader,  how  far  shall  you  have  to  travel  to  find  a 
modem  representative  of  this  self-satisfied  church  ? 
Some  time,  in  some  public  place,  perhaps  in  a  railway 


A  DISSERTATION  THEREON.  6l 

carriage,  3'OU  may  have  admired  the  reflection  of  a 
famihar  form  and  face  which  the  words,  Tuum  est, 
underneath,  has  suddenly  reminded  3^ou,  was  your  own; 
and  as  you  read  of  those  who  in  the  past  were  rich  and  in- 
creased with  goods,  and  had  need  of  nothing,  has  it  not 
been  a  reflection  of  the  thought  of  your  own  con- 
sistency, propriety,  respectability  and  religiousness, 
such  as  has  often  risen  up  before  your  mind,  assuming 
proportions  which  you  have  been  able  to  contemplate 
with  much  satisfaction  ? 

There  is  perhaps  no  more  formidable  obstruction 
in  the  path  of  christian  progress,  than  for  a  believer  to 
be  at  perfect  peace  with  himself.  The  Holy  Spirit  is 
ever  bringing  Christ  before  the  soul  as  the  only  object 
worthy  to  absorb  the  admiration,  and  excite  the  wor- 
ship, of  the  one  whose  sins  have  been  forgiven.  It  is 
by  beholding  as  in  a  glass  the  glory  of  the  Lord,  that 
we  are  changed  into  the  same  image  ;  by  looking  away 
unto  Jesus  the  Author  and  Finisher  of  faith,  that  we 
are  enabled  to  run  with  patience  the  race  that  is  set 
before  us.  Yet,  with  many,  introspection  is  thought 
to  be  a  factor  in  spiritual  growth,  although  it  is  clear 
that  it  could  only  lead  to  one  of  two  results  ;  if  honest, 
to  discouragement,  as  the  hopelessness  of  arriving  at 
perfect  sanctification  by  that  process  would  soon  be 
apparent ;  if  deceived  by  the  treachery  of  one's  owti 


62  the;  apocalypse. 

heart  it  would  not  only  be  to  find  that  ' '  he  who  trusteth 
his  own  heart  is  a  fool,"  but  also  that  the  standard  to 
which  attainment  was  thought  to  have  been  made, 
was,  after  all,  a  human  standard,  and  far,  far  short  of 
the  glory  of  God.  I  am  aware  that  the  full  blown 
laodicean  is  spued  out  of  Christ's  mouth  as  a  nauseous 
thing,  but  the  characteristics  which  lead  to  that  are 
apparent  everywhere  ;  and  the  christian  cannot  afford 
to  travel  such  a  road,  because  the  Spirit  of  God  is  ever 
reminding  the  saints  that  eternal  life  is  for  those  who 
by  patient  continuance  in  well  doing  seek  after  glory 
and  honor  and  incorruptibility.  O  child  of  God,  if  3'ou 
have  set  up  a  pedestal  and  climbed  to  the  top  of  it,  I 
pray  3'ou  come  down.  Jesus  does  not  pass  that  waj'. 
O  be  not  luke-warm,  you  are  much  in  earnest  in  your 
own  affairs,  be  so  in  the  things  of  God.  How  foolish 
that  you  should  be  influenced  by  either  the  sneers  or 
the  contemptuous  smiles  of  the  proud  world  which 
rushes  madly  by  you.  If  you  are  an  overcomer  you 
will  be  seated  hereafter  in  joint  heirship  with  the 
Great  King  upon  His  throne  of  glory.  Who  would 
care  tlicn  for  the  sneers  of  those  who  had  sunk  down 
into  the  pit.  Their  opinion  of  3'ou  then  would  be  of 
less  weight  than  the  dust  upon  a  moth's  wing. 

It  is  evident  that  Sardis,  as  a  church  state,  comes 
out  of  Thyatira  ;  that  Philadelphia  comes  out  of  Sardis  ; 


A  DISSERTATION  THBRKON.  63 

and   there  can  be   no  question  but   that  Laodicea  is 
evolved  from  Philadelphia. 

The  movement  which  began  in  the  early  part  of 
the  eighteenth  century  and  which,  under  God,  dis- 
turbed the  stagnant  waters  of  a  lifeless  profession,  has 
gone  on  intermittently  pretty  well  down  to  the  present 
day,  with  var>dng,  but  decreasing  energy. 

Contempt  and  derision  were  heaped  upon  the 
devoted  servants  of  the  Lord,  who  preached  a  crucified 
and  risen  Christ,  not  only  for  salvation,  but  for 
deliverance  from  this  present  evil  world.  The  church 
and  the  world  were  going  on  together  in  the  most 
cordial,  indeed  affectionate  relationship,  and  both  were 
ready  to  resent,  and  did  resent,  an  interference  with 
a  state  of  things  so  eminently  satisfactory. 

We  have  seen,  when  considering  a  previous  church 
history,  in  what  manner  the  devil  succeeds  in  getting 
control  of  a  movement  which  although  begun  in  the 
energy  of  the  Holy  Spirit,  has  when  committed  to 
human  responsibility  ended  in  complete  failure.  The 
philadelphian  revival  was  a  very  blessed  one,  and  very 
real,  although  producing  but  little  strength.  Many 
gave  themselves  up  to  the  study  of  the  neglected  word  of 
God,  and  openly  confessed  the  name  of  Christ  before  a 
guilty  world,  and  a  shameless  church ;  but  as  time 
wore  on,  and  the   grace   of   God  reached   persons  of 


64  THE  APOCALYPSE. 

eminence  in  the  world,  contempt  and  ostracism  gave 
way  to  admiration  and  emulation.  An  ostentatious 
parading  of  the  Lord's  name  where  there  was  but  little 
heart  for  Him,  and  a  knowledge  of  the  word,  acquired 
with  facility  through  the  multiplication  of  books 
explanatory  of  its  meaning  and  connection,  became 
fashionable,  and  separation  from  the  world  and  to 
Christ  came  to  be  with  many  a  hollow  mockery ,  the 
more  reprehensible  from  its  pretentiousness. 

How  sickening  it  is  to  see  an  air  of  complacency^ 
and  self-satisfaction,  with  arms  folded  over  a  heart 
which  has  not  a  single  pulsation  of  love  for  Christ,  but 
where,  if  there  were  windows  in  human  breasts, 
might  be  seen  in  full  development,  the  lusts  of  the 
flesh,  the  lusts  of  the  eye,  and  the  pride  of  life.  Now, 
all  that  is  mere  pretence,  vaunt  itself  as  it  may,  will  be 
spued  out  of  His  mouth  ;  but  alas  !  many  who  will  be 
preserved  from  impending  judgment  are  even  now,  it 
may  be,  wearing  garments  .spotted  by  the  flesh, 
perhaps  vexing  their  righteous  souls,  but  drifting 
helplessly  with  a  current  they  have  not  the  spiritual 
energy  to  stem.  What  the  loss  throughout  eternity  will 
be,  who  can  estimate  ?  Now,  and  here,  in  this  path  of 
faith  it  is,  that  we  learn  the  apprehension  of  that  for 
which  we  are  apprehended.  In  the  coming  glory  there 
will  be  brought  into  exercise  the  le.ssons  we  learnt  in 


A  DISSERTATION  THERSON.  65 

our  school-days,  and  if  here  we  have  never  passed 
beyond  the  kinter-garten,  how  little  we  shall  know 
with  all  saints  the  height,  and  depth,  and  length,  and 
breadth,  of  the  blessed  ways  of  God  in  grace,  or  the 
love  of  Christ  which  although  passing  knowledge  the 
heart  can  rest  in  with  perfect  and  undisturbed  delight. 

Two  things  seem  to  characterise  Loadicea  in 
addition  to  the  state  of  luke-warmness  ;  the  pretentious 
claim  of  having  riches,  and  the  arrogance  so  often  its 
accompaniment.  In  Smyrna  there  was  confessed 
poverty,  but  true  riches  ;  here  there  is  the  most  abject 
poverty  and  unconsciousness  of  it.  They  are,  as  it  is 
said,  living  in  a  fool's  paradise.  It  would  be  invidious 
to  single  out  for  special  reference  those  in  whom  the 
characteristics  are  now  most  marked,  and  it  would  be 
superfluous,  as  the  wretched  principles  of  Loadicea 
have  permeated  the  whole  professing  church  and  its 
salient  features  are  to  be  seen  everywhere. 

If  we  turn  back  to  the  canon  of  old  testament 
scripture  we  shall  find  in  the  last  book  of  those  sacred 
writings  a  state  of  things  to  which  Loadicea  answers  in 
a  remarkable  way.  There,  there  was  the  lowest 
possible  moral  state,  so  low  indeed,  such  moral 
obliquity,  that  when  appealed  to  by  Jehovah's  prophet 
they  could  reply  with  surprised  air  and  wounded 
sensibilities,    "Wherein  have  we  despised  thy  name? 


66  THS  APOCALYPSE. 

Wherein  have  we  polluted  thee  ?  ' '  There  is  not  onl)- 
self-complacency  now,  but  self-assertion,  and  if  what 
they  say  illustrates  the  one,  what  they  are  called 
proves  the  other;  Laodicea,  the  people's  rights; 
democracy  in  spiritual  things  ;  a  complete  reversal  of 
God's  order.  They  are  counselled  to  buy  gold,  white 
raiment,  and  apply  eye  salve.  They  are  rich,  they  can 
afford  to  buy,  and  they  are  too  proud  to  accept  a  gift ; 
but  gold  in  scripture  figures  that  which  is  divine,  and 
tried  in  the  fire  is  indeed  what  the  blessed  Lord  was 
when  as  the  anti-type  of  the  sin  offering  He  endured 
the  fires  of  God's  righteous  judgment  ;  let  them  buj' 
that.  White  raiment  is  practical  righteousness,  now 
Christ  is  made  unto  us  wisdom  and  righteousness 
and  sanctification,  and  redemption ;  let  them  buy  this 
white  raiment  and  hide  the  shame  of  a  nakedness  the}- 
are  unconscious  of.  Last  of  all,  the  e)'e  salve,  not 
indeed  to  buy  it  as  the  others,  but  to  use  it.  When 
the  Lord  on  one  occasion  passed  by  and  saw  a  man 
blind  from  his  j^outh,  He  anointed  his  eyes  with  oint- 
ment made  of  claj-  and  His  spittle.  Now  the  effect  of 
this  anointing  would  be  to  increase  if  possible  the 
natural  darkness  of  the  blind  eyes,  but  by  washing  in 
the  pool  of  Siloam  the  wonderful  effect  was  produced  of 
giving  sight  to  the  eyes  laden  with  the  clay.  That  is 
to  say,  the  Son  of  God  presented  in  human  flesh  but 


A  DISSERTATION  THERKON.  67 

increased  tlie  darkness  of  the  natural  mind,  until  by 
the  power  of  the  Holy  Spirit,  through  the  word,  the 
Sent  One  of  the  Father  was  by  faith  apprehended. 

The  Lord  is  now  outside  the  door  and  knocking, 
in  case  anyone  would  hear  His  blessed  voice  ;  and  if 
one  were  an  overcomer  in  the  midst  of  so  nauseous  a 
state  of  things,  he  would  sit  down  hereafter  in  joint 
occupancy  with  the  Lord  upon  His  throne  even  as  He, 
the  great  Overcomer,  had  before  been  given  a  seat 
upon  the  Father's  throne. 

And  now  we  have  traced  the  course  of  our 
Rebekah,  the  true  church  of  God  in  the  midst  of 
the  mass  of  profession,  across  the  sands  of  the 
desert,  guided  by  the  faithful  servant  to  the  happj^ 
meeting  with  the  expectant  Bridegroom  who  awaits 
her  coming.  Her  journey  has  been  one  of  many 
vicissitudes.  Bedecked  indeed  by  the  ornaments  His 
grace  has  provided,  and  borne  by  the  provision  of  His 
love,  yet  the  way  has  been  long  and  wearisome.  The 
heat  of  the  day  has  been  oppressive  ;  the  dews  of  the 
night  have  been  chilling ;  the  country  traversed  has 
been  arid  and  drear,  and  again  and  again  she  has  been 
ready  to  faint  and  turn  back,  but  the  faithful  Servant 
has  encouraged  her  heart  by  telling  her  continually  of  the 
Person  to  whom  she  is  betrothed,  and  the  possessions 
upon  which  she  is  about  to  enter.     Happy  bride  !  that 


68  THE  APOCAI^YPSE. 

such  an  One  should  ever  have  set  His  love  upon  thee. 
Her  garments  are  none  of  the  best ;  many  a  rent  and 
many  a  tear  disclose  the  record  of  her  wanderings  ; 
and  her  face,  which  has  not  always  been  veiled  from 
the  rays  of  this  world's  glory  is  freckled  and  sunburnt  ; 
yet,  notwithstanding  all  this,  the  Man  who  is  meditat- 
ing in  the  field  at  eventide  and  now  comes  forth  to 
meet  her,  is  none  other  than  the  One  who  has  chosen 
her,  has  sustained  and  preserved  her,  and  with  whom 
she  is  about  to  enter  upon  an  unending  course  of 
ineffable  delight. 

In  connection  with  the  history  of  the  church  in 
its  progress  through  the  world  two  distinct  facts  are 
presented.  Beginning  with  that  assembly  which  in 
its  first  estate  so  answered  to  the  mind  of  the  lyOrd  that 
the  highest  and  most  blessed  truths  could  be  communi- 
cated to  it,  we  see  a  downward  progress,  however  grace 
may  have  interposed  from  time  to  time  to  stay  it, 
terminating,  as  to  the  profession,  in  complete  rejection, 
after  the  Lord  has  taken  away  to  heaven  all  that  He 
can  own  as  His.  Man  in  responsibility  is,  as  ever,  a 
failure,  and  although  God  may  begin  a  dispensation 
gloriously,  the  end,  where  man  has  to  do  with  it,  is 
inglorious.  Nor  will  the  coming  millenial  age  be  an 
exception ;  although  it  begins  so  happily,  so  much 
beyond  the  previous  period  of  Jewish  relationship  that 


A  DISSERTATION  THEREON.  69 

the  former  is  not  remembered  or  brought  into  mind, 
3'et  the  end  of  that  too  is  a  revolt  against  the  Lord  and 
against  His  holy  city  ;  a  revolt  that  is  accentuated  by 
the  coming  of  Satan  upon  the  scene  again,  but  for  which 
declension  of  soul  will  have  prepared  his  ready  instru- 
ments who  have  been  giving  a  feigned  obedience.  The 
feast  of  tabernacles,  a  millenial  picture,  begins  with  a 
sacrifice  of  thirteen  bullocks,  and  ends  with  seven. 

But  there  is  another,  and  a  blessed  picture  to  be 
seen  as  this  panorama  unfolds  itself  before  our  wonder- 
ing gaze  ;  and  it  is,  as  it  were,  God's  response  to  man's 
unhappy  side  of  things,  for  while  on  the  one  hand 
the  tendency  is  downward,  on  the  other  it  is  ascending  ; 
and  the  seven  steps  by  which  the  ascent  is  made  from 
eating  of  the  tree  of  life  to  a  seat  on  the  throne  of 
heaven,  is  an  opening  out  of  a  continually  expanding 
wealth  of  blessing,  so  amazing  that  the  mind  is  over- 
whelmed in  its  effort  to  realise  the  stupendous  character 
of  the  gifts  of  grace.  No  human  eye  has  ever  seen 
such  glories,  no  heart  of  the  natural  man  has  ever 
conceived  them,  but  God  in  infinite  condecension  has 
by  the  Spirit  revealed  them  to  faith,  and  now  we  wait 
for  them,  but  O  so  longingly,  as  we  strain  our  expectant 
eyes  to  catch  the  first  glimpse  of  the  coming  glor>'. 
"  The  Lord  direct  our  hearts  into  the  love  of  God,  and 
into  the  patience  of  Christ." 


70  THE  APOCALYPSE. 


CHAPTER  IV. 


There  is  a  deep  seated  desire  in  most  hearts  to  lift 
the  veil  which  separates  the  present  from  the  unseen 
world  ;  a  desire  which  Satan  has  used  in  all  ages  for  the 
delusion  and  destruction  of  souls  ;  a  desire  which  how- 
ever the  Spirit  of  God  gratifies  as  to  believers  bj'  set- 
ting open  a  door  in  heaven  and  by  revealing  to  our 
wondering  and  adoring  gaze  a  scene  of  transcendent 
glory,  an  innumerable  company,  the  occupation  in 
which  they  are  engaged,  and  above  and  beyond  all,  the 
glorious  Person  whose  presence  in  their  midst  calls 
forth  the  glad  acclaims  from  intelligent  beings,  part  of 
whom  having  been  redeemed  by  His  own  blood  can 
sing  of  His  grace  in  the  loftiest  strains  of  heart-felt 
praise  ;  and  part,  never  having  sinned  and  not  needing 
redemption,  can  speak  of  the  infinite  wisdom  and 
infinite  power  which  He  has  displayed  in  creation. 

The  prophet  now  recognizes  the  voice  of  his 
Master,  who,  on  earth  had  spoken  to  him  from  among 
the  golden  candlesticks  and  who  now  speaks  to  him 
from  heaven,  calHng  him  up  to  see  the  things  which 


A  DISSERTATION  THERKON.  7 1 

were  to  follow  after  tlie  church's  history  on  earth  had 
closed. 

How  strange  it  is  that  the  picture  of  the  heavenly 
Jerusalem  given  at  the  close  of  this  book,  which  so 
many  accept  as  literal,  should  have  more  attraction  for 
the  heart  of  most  than  the  view  the  open  door  here 
discloses.     If  a  faithful  and  loving  wife  were  called  to 
see    great    honor    and    dignity    conferred   upon    her 
husband,    the  attraction   of   the  scene   for  her  heart 
would  be  the  honored  person,  and  not  the  honoring 
crowd,  or  the   splendid  accessories  ;   so  the   devoted 
heart  when  filled  with  the  Spirit  sees  first  the  glorious 
Person  upon  the  throne,  and  then   the  surroundings 
which    minister    to    His    glory    and    nothing    more. 
People  are  continually  asking :  Where  do  you  think 
heaven  is  ?     Is  it  beyond  the  stars  ?     I  care  not  where 
it  is.     The  location  is  of  the  least  consequence.     A 
lost  child  was  crying  to  be  taken  home,  when  asked 
where  her  home  was,  she  replied  :  "Where  mother  is." 
It  is  our  adorable  Lord  and  Saviour  who  makes  heaven 
for  us,  and  our  delightful  occupation  hereafter  will  be 
rather  in  exploring  the  illimitable  moral  glories  that 
concentre  in  Him,  than  in  measuring  space  or  weigh- 
ing atoms.     "  And  He  that  sat  was  to  look  upon  like  a 
jasper  and  a  sardine  stone." 


72  THE  APOCALYPSE. 

When  God  created  the  one,  who  now  fallen,  is 
become  the  adversary',  the  destroyer,  he  was  given 
every  precious  stone  for  his  covering,  and  ten  are 
enumerated,  indicating  creature  responsibility.  The 
first  of  these  was  sardius  and  the  sixth  jasper.  When 
the  breast  plate  of  judgment  was  made  for  the  high 
priest,  type  of  Christ,  twelve  precious  stones  in  in- 
closings  of  gold  were  set  in  it,  beginning  with  sardius 
and  ending  with  jasper ;  the  number  indicating 
completeness  of  divine  government  through  human 
instrumentality.  And  when  the  holy  city  is  seen 
coming  down  from  God  out  of  heaven  it  has 
twelve  foundations,  the  first  is  jasper  the  sixth 
sardius,  but  the  One  who  sits  upon  the  throne  is  the 
Alpha  and  Omega,  the  beginning  and  end  ot  all  things  ; 
the  sum  of  all  perfection,  whether  as  the  One  who, 
conferring  moral  qualities  holds  the  possessor  re- 
sponsible for  the  exercise  of  them,  or  in  grace  sustains 
the  ones  He  is  using  govemmentally,  whether  Israel 
or  the  church.  He  is  all  in  all,  the  One  who  created  all 
things,  who  sustains  all  things,  and  for  whose  pleasure 
they  exist. 

The  church  having  been  translated,  and  God 
being  about  to  visit  the  earth  with  dire  judgment 
for  the  second  time,  these  two  chapters  being  the 
prelude  thereto,  the  bow  of  His  promise  is  seen,  and 


A  DISSERTATION  THEREON.  73 

seen  in  heaven  ;  but  the  rays  which  produce  the  bow 
are  not  broken  into  their  component  parts  as  on  earth. 
That  is,  that  God's  covenant  with  creation  remains 
inviolate  whatever  display  of  divine  judgments  may  be 
impending ;  that  this  covenant  is  connected  with  His 
moral  glory  as  the  emerald  indicates,  and  however 
little  the  dwellers  upon  the  earth  ma}^  understand  the 
mysterious  government  of  an  unseen  and  unknown 
throne,  those  who  are  in  association  with  it  have  their 
hearts  confirmed  in  the  blessed  assurance  of  God's 
faithfulness,  and  furthermore,  that  there  is  intelligence 
now  to  apprehend  His  wa5^s  in  their  entirety. 

And  who  are  they,  these  throne-sitters,  these  four 
and  twent}' elders  who  surround  the  throne  of  God? 
Ah  !  they  are  saved  sinners,  saved  by  God's  grace, 
and  now  the  enduring  monuments  of  His  mercy. 
Again  and  again  when  on  earth  thej^  had  been  told  of 
royalty  and  priesthood,  but  how  feebly  these  gifts  of 
grace  had  been  apprehended.  But  now  both  royalty- 
and  priesthood  are  in  evidence  as  this  company  of 
royal  priests  calmly  regard  the  intimations  from  the 
throne  of  the  coming  judgments. 

The  Holy  Spirit,  the  divine  energy  by  which  the 
works  of  God  are  effected,  is  there  in  the  fulness  of 
burning  and  consuming  power,  and  no  seraph  is  now 
able  to  avert  the  stroke  of  divine  wrath  upon  earth- 


74  THK  APOCAI,YPSE. 

dwellers,  by  taking  a  live  coal  from  off  the  altar  and 
applying  it  to  polluted  lips.  But  none  in  that  blessed 
scene  are  perturbed.  The  elders  are  clothed  in  spot- 
less righteousness  ;  and  although  there  is  a  sea,  as  of 
old  there  was  in  connection  with  the  temple,  it  is  not 
now  to  cleanse  away  defilement,  there  is  nothing 
unclean  there,  but  the  fixed  transparent  purity  is 
indicated  by  a  sea  of  glass. 

Finally  there  is  another,  a  remarkable  and  im- 
portant accessory  to  the  throne,  the  living  creatures. 
It  has  pleased  God  to  reveal  to  the  children  of  men  so 
much  of  heavenly  things  and  heavenly  persons  as  He 
has  put  in  any  way  in  relationship  with  us,  and  from 
the  time  that  we  find  the  necessity  for  divine  judgment 
through  the  alienation  of  man,  we  see  the  cherubim  as 
the  executors  of  it,  whether  as  wielding  flaming  swords 
to  bar  the  way  to  the  tree  of  life  ;  whether  as  wrought 
in  figure  upon  the  curtains  of  the  tabernacle  to  warn 
against  an  entrance  ' '  at  all  times  ' '  into  the  holiest ; 
or,  whether,  with  sword  of  judgment  sheathed,  the}' 
look  down  forever  with  undistracted  gaze  upon  a  blood- 
sprinkled  mercy  seat,  they  are  ever  in  the  midst  of  the 
throne  and  round  about  it.  But  God's  government  of 
the  earth,  of  a  fallen  and  ruined  creation,  is  necessarily 
providential  and  adapted  to  an  existing  condition, 
consequently  the  characteristics  of  the  four  principal 


A  DISSERTATION  THEREON,  75 

heads  of  animate  creation  are  embodied  in  the  living^ 
creatures.  We  are  accustomed  on  earth  to  see  a  figure 
representing  justice  with  a  drawn  sword  and  bandaged 
eyes ;  the  idea  being  impartiaHty — but  as  a  matter  of 
fact  it  is  a  true  representation  of  the  frequent  failure  of 
human  justice  through  blindness — but  the  executors  of 
divine  judgments  have  a  perfect  knowledge  of  all 
things,  whether  hidden  or  manifest,  they  are  full  of 
eyes  round  and  within. 

In  the  year  that  King  Uzziah  died,  the  prophet 
Isaiah  saw  heavenly  beings  in  association  with  the 
throne,  but  they  were  seraphim  and  not  cherubim  ;  not 
the  upholders  of  its  righteousness,  but  the  proclaimers  of 
its  holiness.  The)^  rest  not  daj'  and  night  saying, '  'Holy, 
hol}^,  holy,  Jehovah  Sabaoth."  Past,  present,  or  future, 
God's  government  in  providence  is  essentially  holy. 
They  had  six  wings,  but  four  of  these  were  to  screen 
the  seat  of  intelligence  and  the  power  for  walk.  Holy 
beings  indeed  they  were,  but  absolute  holiness  is  found 
only  in  its  source.  The  sun  in  its  brightness  sheds  a 
light  beyond  anything  else  we  know  on  earth,  but  on 
the  way  to  Damascus  a  light  shone  suddenly  down 
upon  a  company  of  persecutors  who  were  breathing 
out  threatening  and  slaughter  ;  a  light  beyond  the 
brightness  of  the  sun.  The  incorporation  of  seraphic 
qualities  into  these  composite  living  creatures  makes 


76  THE  APOCALYPSE. 

the  remarkable  and  deeply  interesting  symbolism 
complete ;  and  as  they  strike  a  note  of  praise  it  calls 
forth  a  response  from  the  elders  which  neither  the 
lightnings,  nor  thunderings,  nor  voices,  had  produced, 
and  they  cast  their  crowns  before  the  throne  of  Him 
from  whom  they  had  been  received,  as  they  render 
the  homage  of  intelligent  worshippers  ;  yet  it  is  the 
glory  of  the  Creator  they  celebrate  and  no  word  as  to 
redemption  is  uttered,  nor  are  angels  mentioned.  The 
cherubim  and  seraphim,  whatever  their  status  in 
heavenly  courts,  are  known  to  us  as  angelic  beings, 
and  the  angels  are  S5mibolically  presented  in  the 
living  creatures.  We  shall  see  presently  how  the 
living  creatures  themselves  are  merged  and  lost  in 
another  creation. 


A  DISSERTATION  THEREON.  77 


CHAPTER  V. 


We  have  seen  when  considering  an  earlier  chapter 
that  the  Ancient  of  days  to  whom  the  Son  of  Man  had 
been  brought  in  Daniel' s  vision  was  the  One  who  in 
this  vision  walked  among  the  candlesticks  ;  and  in  the 
last  chapter,  the  One  who  sat  upon  the  throne,  whose 
creatorial  glory  was  celebrated,  is  here  the  One  from 
whose  hand  the  overflowing  book  of  divine  judgment 
is  taken  by  the  Lamb  ;  that  is  to  say,  it  is  through  an 
acquired  rather  than  through  an  inherent  or  intrinsic 
worthiness  that  the  Lion  of  the  tribe  of  Judah  takes 
the  book.  He  has  prevailed,  but  how  ?  Ah  !  the 
saints  of  God  know  well  how  effectually  He  has  pre- 
vailed at  the  cross  ;  what  perfect  right  He  has  to  dash 
in  pieces  as  a  potter's  vessel  the  recalcitrant  nations  of 
the  earth  ;  and  that  the  time  is  at  hand  when  Jehovah 
will  set  His  King  upon  His  holy  hill  of  Zion. 

The  reader  will  be  impressed  as  progress  is  made 
in  the  consideration  of  these  marvellous  unfoldings  of 
God's  purposes  and  counsels,  how  much  there  is  of 
Jewish  connection  in  it  all ;  and  a  word  as  to  this  at  the 


78  THE  APOCALYPSE. 

present  time  will  suffice,  not  onl}'^  for  the  present 
chapter,  but  for  the  subsequent  references  of  a  similar 
character. 

The  church's  history  upon  earth,  as  we  have  seen, 
has  been  closed.  The  temple  of  living  stones  has  been 
transferred  to  heaven,  and  the  form  of  expression  used 
as  to  the  saints  of  God  upon  earth  has  been  suddenly 
changed.  It  is  no  longer  the  relationship  of  children 
with  a  Father  in  whose  hearts  the  indwelling  Spirit 
has  wrought  affections  consistent  with  the  relationship, 
but  an  earthly  people  whose  thoughts  and  desires  will 
henceforth  be,  not  heavenly,  but  earthly.  Israel  will 
again  be  in  the  ascendency,  and  there  will  be  a  partial 
restoration  of  Jewish  ritual  and  sacrifices.  The  earth 
is  being  cleansed  for  the  avowed  purpose  of  placing 
God's  ancient  people,  Israel,  in  their  own  land,  where 
the}'-  are  to  be  the  intermediaries  of  blessing  which 
flows  down  from  above,  through  them,  to  the  nations 
of  the  world.  The  present  dispensation  is  unique  in 
that  a  bride  is  being  ' '  built ' '  for  the  last  Adam  who 
will  presently  call  her  away  to  the  mansions  of  His 
preparing  ;  and  old  testament  prophecies  which  are 
connected  with  the  earth  have  no  reference  to  heavenly 
people,  and  no  suggestion  of  the  present  break  in  the 
dispensations  for  their  calling.  The  prophecies  which 
go  on  from  the  past  to  a  coming  age  are  continuous,  as 


A  DISSERTATION  THEREON.  79 

witness  the  quotation  from  Isaiah,  part  of  which  the 
Lord  read  at  Nazareth,  and  without  finishing  handed 
the  book  to  the  minister  and  sat  down.  That  day  that 
scripture  was  fulfilled  in  their  ears  ;  but  who  in  past 
ages  would  have  suspected  that  a  long  interval  of  two 
thousand  years  nearlj^  would  have  elapsed  before  the 
fulfilment  of  the  unread  portions.  Now  it  is  the  day 
of  God's  long  suffering  grace  ;  a  daj^  in  which  He  is 
patiently  enduring  the  hatred  and  rebellion  of  His  own 
•creatures,  whose  punishment  would  be  richly  deserved  if 
His  judgment  should  be  poured  out  upon  them,  and 
which  indeed  as  a  righteous  and  holy  God  He  must 
eventually  proceed  to  do  ;  but  what  effect  has  been 
produced  by  this  exhibition  of  amazing  grace?  A 
guilty  race  has  made  use  of  it  to  denounce  as  a  monster 
the  God  who  could  execute  righteous  judgments,  for- 
getting that  even  the  bonds  of  human  society  would  be 
completely  shattered  if  indifference  to  wrong  doing, 
which  is  falsely  called  grace,  should  generally  prevail. 
Those  wise  doctors  who  cannot  "  reconcile  the  God  of 
the  old  testament  with  the  God  of  the  new,"  have  yet 
to  learn  the  primary-  principles  of  all  government ;  and 
if  it  has  pleased  Him  to  send  one  nation  to  the  destruc- 
tion of  another,  where  iniquity  has  become  full,  instead 
of  destroying  the  sinners  by  a  direct  judgment  of  fire 
and  brimstone,  or  otherwise,  in  order  to  impress  more 


So  THE  APOCALYPSE. 

vividly  upon  the  nations  His  moral  dealings  with  the 
race  ;  is  it  not  the  height  of  effrontery  for  the  potsherds 
of  earth,  mere  creatures,  to  dare  to  sit  in  judgment 
upon  their  beneficent  Creator,  whose  works  proclaim 
Him  as  infinite  in  wisdom,  in  power,  in  goodness  and 
in  love  ? 

It  may  be  that  some  of  those  who  are  even  now 
engaged  in  this  daring  work  of  replying  against  God  will 
find  to  their  consternation  that  the  record  of  past 
judgments,  which  they  refuse  to  accept,  will  be  exceeded 
by  those  which  are  about  to  come. 

If  it  is  the  Lion  of  the  tribe  of  Judah  who  takes 
the  book  ;  when  seen  in  the  midst  of  the  throne,  of  the 
living  creatures,  and  of  the  elders,  it  is  a  Lamb  as  it 
had  been  slain,  but  with  divine  fullness  of  power  and  of 
intelligence. 

In  the  previous  chapter  the  living  creatures  were 
distinct  from  the  elders  ;  here  they  begin  to  coalesce 
and  finally  disappear,  for  here  is  the  beginning  of  the 
transference  of  administrative  power  from  angels  to 
men  which  is  to  characterise  the  millenial  age  to  come  ; 
and  when  the  Son  of  Man  shall  have  taken  His  seat 
upon  His  own  throne,  the  mystery  of  iniquity  having 
been  exposed,  and  the  saints  seen  as  identified  with 
Him  in  His  kingly  power  ;  then  sj^mbolism  will  have 
fulfilled  its  mission  and  cease  ;  then  the  qualities  which 


A  DISSERTATION  THEREON.  8 1 

have  been  figured  in  the  living  creatures  will  have 
found  their  exposition  in  the  saints  of  the  Most  High 
who  take  the  kingdom  and  reign  with  Christ,  being 
used  of  Him  to  execute  the  righteous  judgments  of  the 
throne,  and  to  proclaim  the  holiness  of  the  One  who 
occupies  it.  The  living  creatures  and  the  elders  fall 
down  together  before  the  throne,  but  it  is  the  latter 
and  not  the  former  who  are  said  to  have  harps  and 
golden  bowls  full  of  incense,  the  prayers  of  saints,  for 
there  are  saints  again  upon  earth,  although  the  church 
of  the  first  born  ones  has  disappeared.  "And  the}^ 
sung  a  new  song."  In  the  last  chapter  they  said 
certain  things,  now  they  sing  them,  for  redemption  has 
come  in  and  the  Redeemer  is  before  them.  Many  of 
us  have  frequently  heard  an  anthem  which  begins 
thus  :  "  Hark,  the  herald  angels  sing  !  "  but  they  do 
nothing  of  the  kind,  they  were  heard  praising  God  and 
saying.  Nor  do  angels  sing  ;  later  in  the  chapter  they 
say  with  a  loud  voice  ;  it  is  only  the  redeemed  who  sing. 
There  was  no  song  until  after  the  Red  Sea  had  been 
crossed.  The  morning  stars  sang  together  indeed,  but 
it  was  the  music  of  the  spheres,  and  there  again  the 
sons  of  God  shouted,  they  did  not  sing. 

Both  saints  and  angels  declare  the  worthiness  of 
the  slain  Lamb,  but  the  saints  have  a  personal  know- 
ledge which  the   angels    have    not,    they   can    sing, 


82  THE  APOCALYPSE. 

"Thou  art  worthy  "  ;  and  note  here,  it  is  not  that  He 
has  redeemed  us.  He  has  redeemed  to  God.  It  is  the 
Actor,  not  the  acted  upon  whom  the  Spirit  of  God  is 
occupied  with.  Nor  is  it  that  He  has  made  us  kings 
and  priests,  and  that  we  shall  reign  on  the  earth  ;  He 
has  made  them  it,  and  they  shall  reign  over  the  earth. 
But  to  whom  does  this  doxology  refer?  We  have 
seen  the  golden  bowls  of  incense  in  the  hands  of  the 
elders,  the  prayers  of  suffering  saints  upon  earth  ;  and 
presently  two  distinct  companies  of  these  would  suffer 
martyrdom,  the  one  for  the  word  of  God  and  for  their 
testimony,  the  other  for  not  receiving  the  mark  of  the 
beast ;  but  what  would  be  the  fate  of  these,  for  the  first 
resurrection  was  passed,  and  the  second  was  a  resur- 
rection of  judgment? 

Ah  !  God  had  not  forgotten  these  faithful  ones  ;  at 
the  end  of  the  tribulation  they  would  be  raised  and 
crowned,  and  be  part  of  the  first  resurrection  ;  and  this 
assurance,  the  word  we  are  now  considering,  will  be 
the  comfort  and  sustainment  of  these  afflicted  ones, 
that  they  too  have  been  made  kings  and  priests. 

An  innumerable  company  of  angels  now  appear  in 
an  outer  circle,  for  here,  as  before  remarked,  the  angels 
are  giving  way  in  administration  to  man,  so  that  all  of 
God's  intelligent  heavenly  beings  unite  in  proclaiming 
the  worthiness  of  the  One  who  in  taking  the  book. 


A  DISSERTATION  THEREON.  83 

takes  the  first  step  in  a  course,  the  end  of  which  is 
the  reconciliation  of  all  things  to  Himself  ;  and  those 
who  have  been  reconciled  are  the  ones  who  most  fully 
apprehend  what  is  involved  in  such  an  action,  for  they 
only  are  said  to  prostrate  themselves  in  adoration. 

There  is,  I  think,  a  good  deal  of  misapprehension 
abroad  as  to  the  scriptural  meaning  of  reconciliation, 
and  a  brief  digression  here  as  to  what  the  Spirit  of 
God  presents  to  us  in  the  word  on  the  subject,  may 
help  to  an  understanding  of  the  ways  of  God  in  relation 
to  His  fallen  creature  man,  as  well  as  to  a  creation 
which  his  fall  has  degraded. 

As  the  result  of  the  work  of  the  cross,  a  proclama- 
tion of  reconciliation  has  been  issued  to  revolting 
subjects.  Will  the  rebels,  those  who  are  alienated  and 
enemies,  whose  hatred  has  been  shown  forth  in  wicked 
deeds,  will  these  now  lay  down  their  arms  and  accept  the 
conditions  of  peace  ?  Some  have  been  led  by  His  grace 
to  do  so,  and  have  been  reconciled  to  the  One  with 
whom  they  had  been  at  variance.  But  had  the  heart 
of  God  to  be  changed,  had  He  to  be  reconciled  towards 
His  guilty  creature  ?  No,  God  is  love,  and  this  love 
has  been  mainifcsted  in  the  gift  of  His  Son.  It  is  the 
heart  of  mati  that  is  all  wrong,  and  not  the  heart  of 
God.  His  appeals  in  the  past  to  His  wilful  creature 
have  been  most  touching.     * '  Come  now,  let  us  reason- 


84  THE  APOCALYPSE. 

together,  saith  the  Lord ;  though  your  sim  be  as 
scarlet,  they  shall  be  as  white  as  snow  ;  though  they 
be  red  like  crimson,  they  shall  be  as  wool. "  "  Ho, 
every  one  that  thirsteth,  come  ye  to  the  waters,  and  lie 
that  hath  no  money  ;  come  ye,  buy  and  eat ;  3'ea,  come, 
buy  wine  and  milk  without  monej'  and  without  price. ' ' 
And  coming  down  to  a  later  day  we  find  the  heart  of 
God  unchanged,  notwithstanding  man's  indifference  to 
His  grace  ;  and  finally,  "  God  so  loved  the  world,  that 
He  gave  His  only  begotten  Son,  that  whosoever 
believeth  in  Him  should  not  perish,  but  have  everlast- 
ing life. ' ' 

I  am  sure  God  is  maligned  when  He  is  represented 
as  averting  His  face  from  the  beseeching  sinner  until 
such  time  as  the  pra3''ers  and  tears  have  mollified  His 
resentment. 

Why  then,  it  may  be  asked,  the  need  of  propitiation 
if  God  is  love.  God  is  light,  as  well  as  love.  God  is 
holy  and  righteous.  He  cannot  look  upon  sin  with 
the  least  degree  of  allowance  or  approbation,  and  if  a 
sinful  creature  is  to  be  brought  into  relationship  with 
Him  it  must  be  in  a  righteous  way.  He  cannot  abate 
one  iota  the  claims  His  holiness  demands.  Only 
infinite  wisdom  could  have  devised  a  way  by  which  the 
apparently  insuperable  difficulties  connected  with  the 
bringing  together  a  holy  God  and   a   sinful  creature 


A  DISSERTATION  THEREON.  85 

might  be  surmounted.  But  a  meeting  place  has  been 
found  at  the  mercy  seat,  for  an  all-atoning  sacrifice 
has  been  provided,  and  God  can  now  righteously 
justify  an  unrighteous  but  repentant  sinner,  because  of 
the  atonement  which  has  been  made  for  his  sins. 
Creation  will  be  released  from  the  curse  under  which  it 
has  fallen  as  the  result  of  the  creature's  sin.  (Col.  i.  20.) 
Heavenly,  earthly  and  infernal  beings  will  eventually 
recognise  the  lordship  of  Jesus  (Phil.  ii.  lo-ii),  but 
for  the  latter  class  there  is  no  reconciliation ;  none 
either  for  those  who  in  rejection  of  God's  grace  have 
deliberately  and  wilfully  chosen  their  part  with  the 
devil  and  his  angels. 

Those  who  are  reconciled  to  God  by  the  work  of 
the  cross,  sinners  saved  by  grace,  who  even  now 
are  to  the  praise  of  His  glory,  will  in  the  ages  to  come 
be  the  objects  upon  whom  the  exceeding  riches  of  His 
grace  will  be  shown  forth  through  Christ  Jesus,  but  the 
sentimental  dream  of  some  that  all  will  be  one  day 
restored  to  the  favor  of  God,  or  that  other  heresy, 
detracting  from  the  value  of  the  work  of  the  cross, 
that  unredeemed  humanity  will  have  no  existence  in 
eternity,  have  not  a  shadow  of  foundation  in  scripture. 


86  THE  APOCALYPSE. 


CHAPTER  VI. 


And  now  we  reach  a  momentous  period  in  the 
history  of  the  world  ;  a  crisis  in  the  affairs  of  men  ;  a 
time  of  which  prophets,  from  the  early  history  of  the 
race,  both  ante  and  post  diluvians,  down  to  the  close 
of  inspiration,  have  written.  The  psalms  and  the 
prophecies  are  largely  taken  up  with  these  awful 
judgments  which  are  now  impending,  yet  there  are 
those  who  tell  us  with  an  ex-cathedra  air  that  these 
prophetic  utterances  are  but  the  expressions  of 
vindictive  hate  on  the  part  of  the  inspired  psalmists 
and  prophets.  There  can  be  no  question  as  to  the 
source  from  which  these  suggestions  come.  Every 
christian  who  has  apprehended  in  the  feeblest  way  the 
holiness  of  God,  must  know  that  the  present  state  of 
unhoUness  in  the  world  is  intolerable  to  Him  ;  yes,  but 
says  one,  we  are  going  to  convert  the  world  ;  if 
christians  were  sufi&ciently  alive  to  their  responsibility 
and  would  contribute  more  freely  towards  the  support 
of  the  missionary  cause,  we  would  soon  bring  in  a 
millenium  by  the  conversion  of  the  heathen.       Would 


A  DISSERTATION  THEREON.  87 

to  God  that  every  soul  in  the  world  were  subject  to 
Him.     Would  to  God  that  the  watch-word,  "China  for 
Christ,"  were  made  good.     Alas  !  we  know  it  will  not 
be  until  He  overturn,  overturn,  overturn,  whose  right 
it  is  ;  we  know  that  it  is  only  when  His  judgments  are 
abroad  that  the  inhabitants  of  the  earth   will  learn 
righteousness.     From    the    fourth    century    onward, 
Europe  has  been  professedly  christian  ;  in  the  seventh 
century  central  Asia    and     China    were    professedly 
christian ;  but  the  nineteenth  century  closes  with  less 
than  one  fourth  of  the  inhabitants  of  the  world  taking 
in  any  way  the  name  of  Christ,  less  than  a  fifth  of 
that  fourth  protesting  against  idolatrous  worship  of 
saints  and  images  in  connection  with  His  holy  name  ; 
and  of  that  twentieth  only  the  Searcher  of  hearts  can 
tell  how  many  have  life  in  Christ.      Alas  !  those  who 
are  seeking  to  walk  with  God  are  conscious  that  the 
numbers  are  few  indeed. 

But  the  hour  of  judgment  has  struck,  and  when 
the  first  seal  of  the  book  is  broken  one  of  the  symbolic 
executors  of  these  judgments  calls  out  in  tones 
which  command  attention:  "Come,"  and  a  white 
horse  comes  forth  bearing  a  rider  with  a  bow.  He 
goes  forth  conquering,  and  to  conquer.  Thus  the 
explanation  of  the  figure  is  at  once  given,  it  is 
conquering  power.      On  the  opening  of  the  second  seal 


88  THE  APOCALYPSE. 

the  second  living  creature  says  :  ' '  Come, ' '  and  a  red 
horse  with  its  rider  makes  its  appearance,  and  all  the 
nations  of  the  world  rush  into  war,  an  awfiul  carnage 
follows.  When  the  third  seal  is  opened,  the  third 
living  creature  says  :  ' '  Come, ' '  and  a  black  horse  with 
a  rider  comes  forth,  with  the  result  that  a  period  of 
great  famine  succeeds  ,  so  great  that  a  choenix  of 
wheat  is  sold  for  a  denarius  ;  at  that  price  how  many 
are  there  who  would  be  unable  to  buy  bread.  At  the 
breaking  of  the  fourth  seal,  the  fourth  living  creature 
says  :  "  Come,"  and  a  white  horse  with  its  rider  comes 
forth  ;  it  is  death,  and  hades  followed  with  him  ;  the 
natural  and  necessary  consequence  which  follows  in 
the  train  of  the  previous  rider.  Thus  we  have  God's 
four  providential  judgments  in  succession.  A  great 
conqueror  arises  like  Genghis  Khan,  or  Tamerlane, 
those  scourges  of  God  as  they  were  called ;  then 
universal  war,  then  famine,  and  finally  pestilence. 
Neither  of  these  figures  present  any  difiiculty,  the 
state  of  things  figured  has  all  been  more  or  less 
known  in  the  past,  indeed  from  having  been  so  known 
it  is  asserted  by  some  that  the  events  are  now  historical. 
But  that  which  is  past  may  be  of  the  character  of  that 
which  is  to  come  without  being  the  fulfillment  of  the 
prophecy ;  just  as  the  speaking  with  tongues  at 
pentecost  was  that  which  at  a  later  day  would  be  seen 


A  DISSERTATION  THEREON.  89 

in  connection  with  the  turning  of  the  sun  into  darkness 
and  the  moon  into  blood. 

God's  four  sore  judgments  having  run  their 
course,  and  the  living  creatures  having  ceased  their 
call,  we  are  now  given  to  see  on  the  breaking  of  the 
fifth  seal  that  during  their  progress  there  had  been  a 
bitter  persecution  of  God's  people  whose  souls  are 
seen  under  the  altar.  But  how  can  it  be,  it  may  be 
asked,  that  there  are  saints  upon  earth  to  suffer 
martyrdom  after  the  translation  of  the  church,  seeing 
that  then  all  of  God's  children  had  been  taken  away. 
No  doubt  those  now  who  believe  not  the  truth,  but 
have  pleasure  in  unrighteousness  will  be  shut  out 
forever  from  God's  grace  because  of  it,  after  the  Lord 
has  called  His  own  to  Himself,  but  it  is  equally  true 
that  that  grace  can  never  be  stayed  so  long  as  there  is 
an  object  upon  whom  it  can  be  exercised  ;  and  if  in 
so-called  christian  nations  there  has  been  a  rejection 
and  despisal  of  that  grace,  He  still  sends  forth  His 
blessed  message,  but  now  to  others,  for  we  shall  see 
in  a  later  chapter  that  an  angel  flies  in  mid-heaven 
having  the  everlasting  gospel  to  preach  upon  earth ; 
nor  is  it  at  a  late  stage  of  this  transitional  period,  but 
at  the  very  beginning,  for  although  placed  much  later 
in  the  prophecy  I  hope  to  be  able  to  show  that  after 
the  execution  of  the  three  series  of  seven-fold  judg- 


90  THE  APOCALYPSE. 

ments  which  are  presented  vividly  and  rapidly,  that 
the  Spirit  of  God  returns,  as  so  often  seen  in  sacred 
writings,  and  developes  more  in  detail,  and  more 
leisurely  the  various  related  histories  in  their  due 
order  and  connection. 

These  martyred  ones  cry  out  for  vengeance  on 
their  slayers,  the  earth-dwellers  ;  and  are  they  rebuked 
as  the  disciples  were  who  wanted  to  call  down  fire  from 
heaven  on  the  Christ-rejectors  of  their  day  ?  No,  on 
the  contrary,  after  a  little  their  prayer  would  be 
answered,  but  in  the  meantime  their  righteous  course 
on  earth  was  testified  to  by  the  white  robes.  How 
evident  it  is  that  the  present  dispensation  of  grace  has 
passed  when  all  this  takes  place.  A  cry  for  vengeance 
now  would  get  no  response  from  a  throne  of  long 
suffering  grace  ;  a  grace  that  is  taken  advantage  of  by 
Christendom  to  dishonor  and  defame  its  blessed  source, 
and  then  it  is  despised  ;  but  the  word  of  God  says  : 
'  *  Behold  ye  despisers  and  wonder  and  perish. ' ' 

We  hear  nothing  more  from  these  disembodied 
spirits,  whose  resting  place  is  remarkable ;  they  are  under 
the  altar,  that  place  of  judgment  where  the  holocaust  had 
been  consumed,  but  the  fire  of  God's  wrath  had  burned 
itself  out  upon  a  holy  victim,  and  the  place  of  judg- 
ment becomes  a  place  of  rest  and  security,  just  as  the 
sweet  singer  of  Israel  had  once  sung :   ' '  The  sparrow 


A  DISSERTATION  THEREON.  9 1 

hath  found  an  house  and  the  swallow  a  nest  for  herself, 
where  she  may  lay  her  young,  even  thine  altars,  O 
Jehovah  of  hosts,  my  King,  and  my  God."  The 
human  heart,  so  restless  and  so  worthless,  has  found 
repose  under  the  shadow  of  the  cross  of  our  I^ord  and 
Saviour  Jesus  Christ ;  but  later,  with  another  class  of 
martyrs,  they  are  raised  and  become  part  of  the  first 
resurrection. 

Whether  as  a  response  to  the  invocation  above,  or 
whether  an  epoch  of  a  fearful  character  had  arrived  in 
the  course  of  divine  procedure,  we  see  an  upheaval  on 
the  opening  of  the  sixth  seal  which  darkens  the  chief 
and  subsidiary  luminaries  of  this  sphere,  casting  down 
the  lesser  lights  to  the  earth,  rolling  up  the  overhang- 
ing canopy,  and  removing  out  of  their  places  everj- 
supposedly  fixed  and  permanent  institution.  It  is 
perhaps  hardly  necessary  to  say  that  all  this  is  moral 
and  not  physical,  subsequent  events  showing  us  a 
continuance  of  the  things  here  said  to  be  removed. 
The  first  half  of  this  century  which  saw  so  man}- 
thrones  toppling  over,  so  much  confusion  and  un- 
certainty among  the  nations,  is  a  faint  representation 
of  what  the  resulting  effect  will  be  of  opening  the  sixth 
seal.  They  know  there  is  such  an  impending  event  as 
the  day  of  the  Lord,  the  day  of  His  wrath,  and  they 
think  it  has  come.     Which  way  shall  they  turn,  where 


92  THE  APOCALYPSE. 

shall  they  flee,  to  escape  that  dies  irae?  Better,  a 
thousand  times  better,  to  be  crushed  and  buried 
beneath  a  superincumbent  mountain  mass  than  to  meet 
those  eyes  of  fire  of  the  coming  One  whom  they  had  in- 
sulted and  outraged.  Where  is  now  the  bravado  that 
could  jest  about  a  judgment  when  thought  to  be  remote 
or  uncertain,  and  speak  lightly  of  going  to  hell  when 
youth  and  health  and  strength  seemed  to  promise  end- 
less life.  Terror,  abject  terror  has  seized  their  souls. 
They  have  been  brought  face  to  face  with  that  which 
they  affected  to  despise  and  the  result  is  consternation. 
They  are  actors  in  a  different  scene,  and  in  a  different 
role  than  anticipated ,  and  the  acting  is  not  heroic.  How 
fearful  the  thought  of  being  a  part  of  that  companj-, 
and  3'et  some  who  read  this  book  may  be  of  it.  If  so, 
it  will  not  be  because  a  warning  voice  has  not  been 
raised.  But  if  the  invocation  to  the  rocks  and  moun- 
tains were  heard  and  the  terror-stricken  ones  were 
buried  even  beneath  Mount  Blanc  would  thej^  be 
hidden  from  the  face  of  Him  that  sitteth  on  the  throne  ? 
Ah  !  no,  "  though  they  dig  into  hell,  thence  shall  mine 
hand  take  them  ;  though  they  climb  up  to  heaven, 
thence  will  I  bring  them  down  ;  and  though  they  hide 
themselves  in  the  top  of  Carmel  I  will  search  and  take 
them  thence." 


A  DISSERTATION  THEREON.  93 


CHAPTER  VIL 


Six  seals  of  the  book  of  God's  judgment  have 
been  broken,  and  there  remains  but  the  seventh.  The 
devastating  winds  of  His  wrath  have  been  blowing 
upon  the  earth  but  now  they  are  momentarily  restrained 
by  angelic  power  until  the  governmental  Israelitish 
company,  destined  for  millenial  blessing,  has  been 
sealed,  together  with  a  vast  number  from  the  nations. 
The  seven  trumpets  have  yet  to  be  sounded,  the  seven 
thunders  have  yet  to  be  heard,  and  if  what  has  already 
transpired  has  been  full  of  awe,  who  shall  be  able 
to  endure  what  remains.  Surely  none  but  those  who 
are  divinely  preserved,  and  we  find  that  God  has 
again,  as  in  past  dispensations,  an  elect  remnant  of 
grace,  upon  whom  a  seal  is  placed,  and  the  malevolence 
of  men  or  Satan  is  powerless  against  them  ;  and  those 
so  sealed,  and  those  only,  survive  the  tribulation  and 
the  subsequent  day  of  the  Lord.  If  that  is  the  case  it 
maybe  said,  how  is  it  that  Dan  is  here  excluded,  while 
we  find  that  by  other  scriptures  he  has  his  portion  with 
the   tribes  in  the    millenial  distribution  of  the  land. 


94  THE  APOCALYPSE. 

The  typical  number  sealed,  as  above  remarked,  has  a 
governmental  significance,  and  from  this  connection 
Dan  is  excluded.  He  is  "a  serpent  by  the  way,  an 
adder  in  the  path,  that  biteth  the  horse's  heels,  so  that 
his  rider  shall  fall  backw^ard  ; ' '  and  then  Jacob  adds  : 
"I  have  waited  for  thy  salvation  O  Jehovah."  The 
connection  between  these  expressions  is  not  seen  until 
Dan's  unhappy  idolatrous  history  is  remembered,  but 
if  the  patriarch  with  prophetic  vision  can  look  down 
the  vista  of  coming  ages  and  see  the  idolatry  of  his  son, 
it  but  turns  his  own  heart  more  fixedly  to  the  One  in 
whom  he  himself  had  found  his  salvation.  There  is 
another  expression  in  Jocob's  prophecy  as  to  Dan,  the 
reason  for  which  is  apprehended  when  the  other  con- 
nections are.  "  Dan  shall  judge  his  people,  as  one  of 
the  tribes  of  Israel."  If  the  Lord,  in  His  sovereign 
will,  purposes  to  leave  in  the  midst  of  Israel  a  standing 
witness,  even  during  His  glorious  reign,  of  His 
abhorrence  of  idolatry  by  giving  Manasses  the  place  of 
Dan  in  Israel's  supremacy  over  the  nations  of  the 
world  ;  yet  in  grace,  the  assurance  is  given  that  he  will 
not  be  deprived  of  his  own  tribal  authority,  or  fail 
of  his  place  in  the  land  ;  yet  as  he  is  not  sealed  with 
the  tribes,  having  forfeited  his  rights,  he  still  comes 
in,  even  although  in  an  inferior  way,  and  is  sealed 
with  the  countless  number  from  among  the  nations. 


A  DISSERTATION  THEREON,  95 

It  is  of  the  deepest  interest  to  note  the  degrees  of 
intelligence  manifested  among  the  different  companies 
which  this  book  presents,  and  the  lowest  of  all  is  this 
vast  white-robed  palm-bearing  multitude  who  can 
only  say :  ' '  Salvation  to  our  God  which  sitteth  upon 
the  throne,  and  unto  the  Lamb."  They  have  passed 
through  much  tribulation,  and  now  at  perfect  rest  and 
peace  as  to  their  circumstances,  they  can  render  thanks, 
for  they  recognise  the  source  of  their  blessings. 

If  we  should  follow  the  bent  of  our  natural  in- 
clinations we  would  like  to  live  on  the  earth  forever,, 
particularly  if  our  surroundings  were  congenial  ; 
for  has  He  not  set  the  world  in  our  heart  ?  And  this 
sentiment  is  appealed  to  by  many  of  the  latter  day 
heresies,  and  alas !  by  many  who  assume  to  be 
evangelical  ;  but  when  we  contrast  the  present  portion 
of  the  saints  of  God  who  are  indwelt  by  the  Holy 
Spirit,  members  of  the  body  of  the  One  who  sits  upon 
the  throne,  to  whom  have  been  revealed  the  things 
which  neither  in  the  past,  nor  in  the  coming  age,  eye  had 
seen,  nor  ear  heard,  nor  the  heart  of  man  conceived, 
with  those  who  utter  this  millenial  note  of  praise, 
surely  every  redeemed  soul  will  say,  better,  a  thou- 
sand times  better  to  live  in  this  dispensation  with  all 
its  sickness  and  suffering  and  sorrow  and  death  ;  with 
all  the  hatred  and  calumny  ;  with  even  its  torture  and 


96  THE  APOCALYPSE. 

martj'rdom,  and  Christ  known  and  enjoyed  ;  than  the 
endless  life,  the  freedom  from  sickness  and  death,  the 
vine  and  the  fig  tree,  and  the  absence  of  fear,  with 
exclusion  from  His  presence  and  intercourse  only 
through  an  earthly  and  human  priest. 

When  in  that  coming  age  glorious  beings  appear 
to  the  children  of  men,  either  for  judgment  or  blessing^ 
and  they  learn  that  those  shining  messengers  from 
heaven,  from  the  presence  of  God,  were  once  poor 
weak  sinful  beings  upon  earth,  how  would  their  hearts 
thrill  at  the  thought  of  being  one  with  them  ;  an 
unrealisable  conception  ;  and  with  what  incredulity 
would  they  learn  that  when  on  earth  those  heavenly 
beings  were  thinking  enviously  of  the  portion  of  those 
who  would  people  the  renewed  earth. 

Another  and  a  more  intelligent  note  of  praise 
follows,  as  the  cry  of  the  righteous  victors  ascends  from 
earth  to  heaven,  and  the  angels  fall  down  before  the 
throne  and  worship.  The  seer  would  know  something 
more  of  this  earthly  company,  or  rather  the  Spirit  of 
God  inspires  the  question  as  -to  who  they  are,  both  to 
bring  them  into  fuller  light,  and  also  to  .show  with 
whom  in  heaven  the  secret  of  the  lyord  is.  An  elder, 
once  a  sinner  upon  earth,  proposes  the  question  and 
replies  to  it.  They  are  those  who  have  come  out  of 
the  great  tribulation,  showing  us  that  the  section  we 


A  DISSERTATION  THEREON.  97 

are  now  considering,  before  the  breaking  of  the 
seventh  seal,  is  one  in  which  the  Spirit  of  God  inter- 
rupts the  narrative  of  events  to  show  anticipatively  the 
blessed  results  which  will  have  been  achieved  when  the 
lord  of  misrule  shall  have  been  dethroned.  Happy 
company !  Neither  hunger  nor  thirst,  nor  burning 
heat  more,  but  fed  by  the  Lamb,  who  when  on  earth 
fed  thousands  with  a  few  little  cakes  which  a  lad 
carried ;  and  led  by  Him  unto  living  fountains  of 
waters,  where  God  Himself  would  wipe  away  all  tears. 


98  THE  APOCAI^YPSE. 


CHAPTER  VIII. 


Having  finished  the  digression,  the  Spirit  of  God 
again  brings  us  to  the  consideration  of  the  last  of  the 
seals,  and  when  it  is  broken  there  is  silence  in  heaven 
for  about  half  an  hour.  This  is  very  impressive.  It 
intensifies  a  scene  of  the  deepest  possible  moment.  In 
the  first  place  there  are  the  seven  angelic  trumpeters, 
but  they  stand  before  God  ;  they  do  nothing  while  the 
Great  High  Priest  is  officiating.  Now  pray  observe 
what  transpires,  for  it  is  none  other  than  the  Lord 
Himself  who  stands  at  the  altar  with  the  golden  censer. 
The  time  has  not  yet  arrived  when  He  shall  come  forth  in 
all  His  royal  dignity  as  King  of  Kings  ;  but  in  angelic 
character  He  ministers  as  High  Priest.  We  read  that 
an  angel  appeared  to  Manoah  and  his  wife,  and  when 
they  were  urgent  to  know  his  name  he  told  them  it  was 
Wonderful.  The  prophet  Isaiah  says.  His  name  shall 
be  called  Wonderful,  Counsellor,  the  mighty  God,  the 
everlasting  Father,  the  Prince  of  Peace,  Well,  this 
Angel  who  has  the  golden  censer  comes  to  the  altar  and 
takes  fire  therefrom,  clearly  the  brazen  altar,  for  only 


A  DISSERTATION  THEREON.  99 

there  was  the  fire  burning.  It  was  there  that  the  fire 
of  God's  righteous  judgment  consumed  the  spotless 
and  unblemished  sacrifice,  its  savour  grateful  to  Him  ; 
forasmuch  as  at  the  cross  of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  of 
which  the  brazen  altar  is  a  type,  the  righteousness  and 
holiness  of  God  were  so  maintained  in  His  judgment 
of  sin  that  thereafter  His  love  and  His  grace  could 
flow  out  unhinderedly  to  an}'-  and  all  who  identified 
themselves  by  faith  with  that  altar,  that  cross.  The 
incense  was  burned  at  the  golden  altar  with  fire  taken 
from  off  the  brazen  altar.  The  moral  glories  and 
excellencies  of  Christ  shed  their  perfume  the  more, 
because  of  the  fire  which  brought  them  out,  and  here 
we  find  much  incense  was  offered  with  the  prayers  of 
all  saints,  and  they  ascended  up  before  God  out  of  the 
angel's  hand. 

In  a  previous  chapter  the  elders  had  been  seen 
with  golden  bowls  in  which  was  the  incense  of  the  saint's 
prayers,  but  they  could  add  nothing  thereto.  How 
blessed  it  will  be  for  those  tried  and  afflicted  saints  in 
the  day  that  is  coming,  to  learn  from  this  precious  book 
that  their  prayers  are  ascending  to  God,  perfumed  by 
an  incense,  the  composition  of  which  is  of  divine 
appointment,  and  how  solemn  the  thought  of  the  vast 
difference  in  position  of  the  saved  and  the  lost  in  that 
day.     The  angel  fills  the  censer  with  fire    from  off  the 


lOO  THE  APOCALYPSE. 

altar,  and  casts  it  down  to  the  eartli.  What  is  the 
result?  Does  incense  now  ascend?  No,  on  the  con- 
trar}-,  we  hear  voices  and  thunderings,  and  lightnings 
and  an  earthquake.  There  is  no  victim  now  upon 
eartli  upon  whom  the  fires  of  God's  wrath  may  descend, 
none  as  an  intermediary  to  receive  the  awful  stroke, 
1)ut  the  rejecters  of  grace  now  learn  from  these  pre- 
monitory signals  that  judgment,  awful  and  dire,  is 
impending,  which  nothing  can  avert  or  mitigate. 

' '  And  the  seven  angels  which  had  the  seven 
trumpets  prepared  themselves  to  sound." 

It  is  not  now  the  silent  breaking  of  seals,  where 
God  in  providence  acts  unseen,  but  the  more  open  and 
declared  interposition  of  His  mighty  hand  in  the  affairs 
of  earth.  There  is  evidently  a  division  in  the  trumpet 
judgments,  the  last  three  being  preceded  by  the  woe, 
woe,  woe,  cry  of  the  eagle,  and  the  first  four  forming 
a  series  by  themselves  of  so  comprehensive  a  character 
that  the  symbolism  of  the  heavens,  the  earth,  and  the 
depth  of  the  sea  are  brought  into  requisition  to  express 
it.  The  sounding  of  the  first  trumpet  brought  down 
hail  and  fire,  mingled  with  blood.  The  seventh  plague 
inflicted  upon  Egypt  for  the  deliverance  of  God's 
ancient  people  was  hail  mingled  with  fire  ;  here  there 
is  that,  and  with  blood.  In  Egypt  it  was  literal,  here 
probably    figurative    of    awful    judgments,    not   only 


A  DISSERTATION  THEREON.  lOI 

the  bringing  down  of  that  which  is  lofty,  but  the 
destruction  of  that  which  is  least,  limited  apparently 
to  that  part  of  the  world  which  had  been  the  subject 
of  prophecy  in  the  past,  because  of  proximity  to  God's 
land  and  God's  people  ;  the  third  part  of  the  earth. 

On  the  sounding  of  the  second  trumpet  a  great 
burning  mountain  is  cast  into  the  sea.  The  prophet 
Jeremiah  when  prophesying  against  Babylon  speaks  of 
her  being  rolled  down  from  the  rocks  and  made  a 
burnt  mountain,  that  which  had  been  a  destroying 
mountain,  destroying  all  the  earth.  A  mountain  is 
that  which  expresses  stability,  and  the  sea,  in  figure 
elsewhere,  the  nations  in  confusion.  If  that  mystic 
ecclesiastical  system  known  as  Babylon  is  here  referred 
to,  we  have  an  intimation  of  its  destructive  power, 
even  in  the  hour  of  its  doom,  but  as  the  Spirit  of  God 
in  a  later  portion  of  the  book  more  fully  develops  the 
course  and  end  of  Babylon,  I  hope  to  return  to  a 
consideration  of  the  subject. 

The  star  Wormwood  falls  from  heaven  when  the 
third  trumpet  is  sounded  ;  but  not  as  in  the  last,  into 
the  sea  ;  not  into  a  state  of  national  disruption,  but 
upon  those  communities  whose  course,  defined  and 
restrained  by  banks  which  guide  their  flow  in  pre- 
scribed channels,  present  to  us,  as  explained  later  in 
the  prophecy,  a   state   of   things  in  contrast  to  that 


I02  THE  APOCALYPSE. 

which  is  presented  by  the  sea.  It  was  a  great  star 
that  fell,  one  occupying  a  high  but  subordinate  position, 
and  outwardly  in  professed  relationship  with  God  ;  it 
falls  from  heaven.  Evidently  a  personage  of  great 
influence,  and  doubtless  when  he  is  on  the  scene,  the 
saints  of  God,  instructed  by  the  prophecy  we  are  con- 
sidering, will  know  to  whom  the  reference  is,  we 
cannot  know ;  and  for  us  it  is  unnecessary  that  we 
should  know,  but  we  shall  see  later  that  a  remarkable 
person  arises  from  a  settled  and  ordered  state  of  things 
who  is  used  to  accelerate  the  development  of  all  that 
opposes  and  magnifies  itself  against  God.  He  is  one, 
it  is  evident,  who  sways  the  minds  of  the  p2ople  in  a 
marvellous  way,  and  if  his  career  had  its  beginning  in 
connection  with  that  form  of  religious  observances, 
which  is  being  tenaciously  clung  to,  although  lifeless 
and  heartless,  then  we  can  readily  see  how  it  is  possible 
that  that  wicked  man  who  is  presently  to  play  so 
important  a  part  on  the  earth  may  be  none  other  than 
the  star  Wormwood,  and  the  star  Wormwood,  possibly, 
the  then  head  of  the  church  of  Rome.  However,  these 
are  merely  .suggestions,  and  the  reader  may  consider 
them. 

The  sounding  of  the  fourth  trumpet  heralds  a 
state  of  things  somewhat  similar  to  that  which  followed 
the  breaking  of  the  sixth  .seal,  only  that  here  it  is  not 


A  DISSERTATION  THEREON.  103 

only  that  the  sun  and  moon  are  darkened  and  the  stars 
fall,  but  that  they  are  smitten  ;  all  the  greater  and 
lesser  lights  which  govern  in  the  prophetic  earth  ;  and 
although  less  is  said  about  the  effects  than  in  the 
previous  judgment  we  may  well  suppose  they  are  more 
severe,  not  only  because  of  the  language  used,  but  also 
because  we  see  that  as  the  judgments  proceed  it  is 
with  increasing  severity. 

A  harbinger  of  evil  now  flies  in  mid-heaven  pro- 
claiming in  a  loud  voice  the  awful  consequences  which 
would  follow  the  sounding  of  the  remaining  trumpets. 
These  were  to  be  upon  the  earth  inhabiters.  Hereto- 
fore the  judgments  have  apparently  more  or  less 
affected  the  people  of  God  whose  lot  it  has  been  to  be 
in  the  midst  of  these  dreadful  scenes,  but  henceforth 
there  is  a  difference.  Long  centuries  before,  when 
God  had  greviously  afflicted  the  land  of  Egypt,  there 
came  a  time  when  He  said  to  Pharaoh  :  "I  will  put 
a  division  between  My  people  and  thy  people  :  to- 
morrow shall  this  sign  be. ' ' 


104  TH^  APOCAI.YPSJ5. 


CHAPTER  IX. 


When  the  pit  of  the  abyss  is  opened  God's  sealed 
ones  are  exempt  from  the  effects  of  the  awful  satanic 
irruption  which  follows.  A  marked  period  has 
evidently  arrived  in  the  course  of  events  transpiring 
on  the  earth.  The  account  of  what  succeeds  is  not 
dismissed  in  a  few  words,  but  is  amplified  in  a  way  not 
before  done.  There  is  a  reason  for  this,  and  as  in  the 
early  chapters  of  Leviticus  the  offerings  are  first  pre- 
sented and  then  afterwards  the  law  of  each  offering, 
so  we  have,  in  seeking  to  understand  the  meaning  of 
many  things  in  this  section  of  our  book,  to  look  onward 
to  the  fuller  opening  out  of  these  mysteries  in  that 
portion  which  follows  the  rapid  sketch  given  which 
terminates  at  the  end  of  the  eleventh  chapter.  We 
find  then  an  event  transpires  during  the  execution  of 
these  judgments  of  the  greatest  possible  moment,  none 
other  than  the  casting  down  from  heaven  of  that  great 
being  who  in  the  day  of  his  creation  filled  up  the  sum  of 
wisdom  and  beauty  ;  and,  adorned  with  everj'  precious 
stone  for  a  covering,  he  walked  up  and  down  in  Eden, 


A  DISSERTATION   THEREON.  105 

the  garden  of  God.  True,  it  is  Tyre,  and  the  prince  of 
Tyre  of  whom  Ezekiel  writes,  but  as  we  consider  the 
former  we  see  that  it  developes  almost  insensibly 
into  a  wider  sphere  until  Tj^re  stands  for  the  glory  of 
the  world ;  and  as  we  regard  its  prince,  b}^  the  same 
process  of  mysterious  transformation,  we  see  the 
shadowy  outlines  in  the  back  ground  of  the  one 
whom  the  world  has  accepted  as  its  god  and  prince. 
Now,  the  wisdom,  the  power,  and  the  beauty  of  this 
great  being,  instead  of  leading  to  abasement  in  the 
presence  of  his  Creator,  led  to  pride  of  heart  as  he  con- 
templated himself,  and  when  pride  was  found  in  him 
and  that  spirit  of  exaltation  which  sought  to  advance 
his  throne  above  the  stars  of  God,  he  was  degraded 
morally,  and  he  corrupted  his  wisdom  by  reason  of  his 
brightness.  Henceforth  this  wonderful  creature 
became  the  basest  of  all  God's  intelligent  beings,  the 
embodiment  of  every  form  of  evil,  and  the  expression  of 
its  active  principle,  yet  God,  for  the  accomplishment 
of  His  inscrutable  purposes,  still  permits  this  dreadful 
being  to  defile  the  heavens  by  his  presence,  and  the 
presence  of  those  he  dragged  down  with  him  in  his 
fall.  A  time  is  coming,  however,  when  the  Devil  and 
his  angels  will  be  cast  down  from  those  heavenly  places, 
and  cast  down  into  the  earth,  this  we  are  told  definitel}'- ; 
and  it  is  also  said  that  he  is  the  king-  of  those  who  have 


I06  THE  APOCALYPSE. 

been  released  from  the  abyss.  Is  it,  I  ask,  an  un- 
warranted conclusion  that  the  fallen  star,  (and  note  it 
is  not  "  a  star  fallen  from  heaven,"  but  a  star  having 
fallen  at  some  undefined  previous  period),  should  be 
Apollyon  the  destroyer  who  leads  the  hosts  of  hell 
against  the  willingly  deluded  inhabiters  of  the  earth  to 
their  destruction  ?  However  that  may  be,  it  opened 
the  pit  of  the  abyss  and  smoke,  as  the  smoke  of  a 
furnace  ascended  therefrom,  darkening  the  sun  and 
the  air.  Any  moral  perception  that  may  have  remained 
after  all  that  had  passed  was  now  beclouded,  even  that 
which  should  have  been  the  supreme  governing  power 
becomes  itself  darkened,  and  the  way  thus  prepared 
for  a  new  and  strange  creature  to  accomplish  a  work 
of  such  character  that  the  mere  record  of  it  is  terrify- 
ing. It  is  said  that  locusts  came  out  of  the  smoke, 
but  when  they  are  described  there  is  nothing  in  their 
appearance  to  connect  them  with  that  destructive 
insect,  so  that  the  comparison  may  be  in  what  they  do, 
rather  than  in  what  they  are  ;  and  here  again  we  find 
that  instead  of  the  blackening  of  the  earth  through  the 
destruction  of  every  kind  of  verdure,  the  result  of 
locust  devastation,  that  no  green  thing  is  to  be  hurt, 
yet  these  released  demons  come  up  from  their  long 
time  prison  house  in  such  vast  numbers  that  they  can 
only  be  likened  to  the  clouds  of  locusts  whose  coming 


A  DISSERTATION  THKRr.OX.  I07 

is  the  terror  of  eastern  countries.     When  the  Lord  was 
upon  earth  some  from  the  abyss  or  elsewhere  were 
for  the  time  set  at  hberty,   and  when  we  remember- 
that  one  man   could  be  possessed  by    at  least   two 
thousand  we  may  have  some  faint  conception  of  what 
a  general  jail  dehvery  of  infernal  beings  would  be. 
The  armies  of  locusts  destroy  all   that  would  be  for 
food,  but  how  awful  their  visitation  if  instead  of  that 
they  were  armed  with  the  stings  of  scorpions  and  had 
an  appearance  that  would  strike  terror  into  the  stoutest 
heart.     We  must  suppose  that  all  this  description  is 
figurative  and  moral  in  application  and  as  no  figure 
can  equal  the  thing  figured,   the  reality  of  it  all,   in 
which  some  who  read  these  pages  may  one   day  be 
found,  will  be  awful  in  the  extreme.     There  are  those 
above  who  have  been  crowned  with  crowns  of  gold, 
these  will  assume  to  be  so,  but  their  crowns  are  a  mere 
imitation,  a  sort  of  dutch  metal,  and  although  there  is 
the  manly  face  there  is  the  womanly  hair.     Let  none 
however  suppose  that  the  crowns,  the  faces,  and  the 
hair  are  indicative  of  a  weakness  that  may  be  resisted  ; 
no,  there  were  invulnerable  breast-plates,  there  was 
the  terrifying  sound  of  horses  and  chariots  rt^shing  to 
battle,  and   stings   from  the   tails  of  these   monsters 
worse  than  death  itself,  and  finally  we  find  at  iheir 
head  the  great  enemy  of  God,  of  Christ,  "^nd  of  the 
saints,  that  old  serpent  the  Devil. 


lo8  THE  APOCALYPSE. 

What  the  full  meaning  of  all  these  symbols  may 
"be  we  can  only  conjecture,  but  the  sealed  ones,  the 
servants  of  God  will  know  in  that  day,  and  the 
scriptures  we  are  now  considering  will  be  to  their  com- 
fort and  guidance. 

The  sixth  angel  sounded,  and  now  a  voice  from 
the  four  horns  of  the  golden  altar  is  heard,  that  altar 
from  which  incense  ascended  as  a  sweet  savour  to  God, 
but  now  it  is  the  strength  of  the  altar  and  not  com- 
munion that  is  in  view.  If  vast  armies  are  coming 
on  the  scene,  an  unseen  power  has  released  the  hitherto 
restraining  influences,  and  the  devastation  and  des- 
truction which  follow,  although  apparently  altogether 
of  man,  the  instructed  ones  know  to  be  the  awful 
judgments  of  God. 

And  now  four  angels  who  had  been  bound  at  the 
great  river  Euphrates  are  released  from  bondage,  but 
as  a  matter  of  fact  it  will  not  be  supposed  that  there 
are  four  angels  now  bound  there,  but  as  so  much 
is  symbolism  in  what  we  are  considering,  there  is  no 
question  that  this  expression  is  figurative,  but  what 
does  it  figure  ?  The  term  angel,  as  we  have  seen,  is 
not  only  applied  to  the  spiritual  beings  in  relationship 
with  us,  but  may  be  also  to  a  messenger  or  a  representa- 
tive ;  it  is  evidently  so  here,  but  whom  do  they  represent? 
As  to   the  churches  it  seems  clear   enough  who  the 


A  DISSERTATION  THEREON.  109 

angels  are,  but  as  to  these  there  is  but  one  connection, 
they  are  at  the  Euphrates.  When  Daniel  saw  four 
wild  beasts  come  up  out  of  the  sea,  diverse  one  from 
another,  he  is  told  that  these  beasts  are  the  four  great 
nations  that  were  successively  to  rise  and  fall  during 
that  period  when  Jehovah  was  not  in  outward  relation- 
ship with  an  earthly  people.  When  Nebuchadnezzar 
at  an  earlier  time  saw  in  his  dream  a  composite  figure 
of  a  man,  the  prophet  interpreted  it  also  as  a  figure  of 
these  four  kingdoms  ;  and  when,  nearly  a  hundred 
years  later,  Zechariah  lifted  up  his  eyes  and  saw  four 
horns,  and  four  carpenters  come  to  fray  them,  he  was 
told  that  thus  the  horns  of  the  gentiles  which  were 
lifted  up  over  the  land  of  Judah  would  be  frayed. 
He  also  saw  four  chariots  come  out  from  between  two 
brasen  mountains,  which  again  were  the  four  gentile 
monarchies  ;  and  however  self-contained  and  self- 
asserting  they  might  appear  to  be,  they  were 
really  providentially  directed  from  between  God's 
immovable  judgments.  It  would  seem  that  the 
four  angels  at  the  Euphrates  are  also  the  representa- 
tives of  the  four  gentile  kingdoms,  long  restrained, 
but  again  at  the  last  revived,  and  in  such  manner  as 
that  they  can  be  ground  to  powder  by  the  stone  cut 
out  without  hands  which  subsequently  becomes  a  o-reat 
mountain  and  fills  the  whole  earth. 


1  lO  THE  APOCAI.YPSE. 

A  question  may  be  raised  here  as  to  the  revival  of 
the  kingdom  of  Babylon  which  has  been  doomed  to 
perpetual  desolation  ;  for  while  other  ancient  places 
and  countries  have  been  made  partially  desolate  for 
a  time,  Babylon  is  to-day  a  striking  and  permanent 
example  of  the  literal  fulfilment  of  prophecies  uttered 
against  it  twenty  six  centuries  ago,  for  it  is  not 
inhabited  or  dwelt  in  ;  the  Arabian  does  not  pitch  his 
tent  there,  nor  shepherds  make  their  fold  ;  but  wild 
beasts  of  the  desert  lie  there,  and  the  ruins  are  full  of 
doleful  creatures.  I  wish  to  anticipate  the  objection. 
I  do  not  for  a  moment  suppose  that  the  kingdom  of 
Babylon  itself  will  be  resuscitated  ;  not  only  because  of 
the  prophecies  above  referred  to,  but  also  because  the 
judgments  thereon  had  been  so  sweeping  and  destruc- 
tive that  the  angel  could  say  to  Zechariah  that  those 
who  had  gone  towards  the  north  country  had  quieted 
his  spirit  there.  Yet  Babylon  comes  into  judgment 
before  God,  as  we  shall  see  later,  and  how  then  is  this 
apparent  contradiction  explained  ? 

Babylon  of  old  was  the  source  from  which  sprung, 
and  the  centre  from  which  radiated  the  idolatries  which 
spread  themselves  over  the  contiguous  asiatic  countries  ; 
she  became  the  mother  of  daughters  more  wicked  and 
more  brasen  if  possible  than  herself  ;  and  if  the  literal 
kingdom  of  Babylon  is  not  to  arise  again,  its  ecclesi- 


A  DISSERTATION  THEREON.  1 1 1 

astical  counterpart  is  even  now  in  existence,  and  it 
will  be,  at  the  last,  one  aspect  which  the  fourth 
monarchy  will  present ;  indeed,  so  distinct  will  be  this 
presentation  that  we  shall  see  as  we  proceed  to  the 
consideration  of  later  chapters  how  the  ecclesiastical 
completely  dominates  the  civil  side  of  this  last  great 
kingdom,  at  least  up  to  a  certain  period  ;  and  thus  the 
first  and  last  of  these  kingdoms  in  a  way  coalesce, 
while  at  the  same  time  the  distinction  is  clearly  defined. 
This  then  is,  I  am  convinced,  the  true  explanation  of 
the  last  appearance  of  the  four  wild  beasts,  or  the 
four  horns  when  they  are  to  be  finally  frayed.  Persia, 
Greece  and  Rome  exist  to-day  ;  and  so  also  does  the 
mystic  Babylon,  and  all  will  be  destroyed  when  the 
King  comes  into  whose  hands  all  kingdoms,  all  princi- 
palities, all  powers  are  to  be  committed. 

The  four  angels  were  prepared  for  the  hour,  day, 
month  and  year,  to  slay  the  third  part  of  men.  What 
definiteness  there  is  in  all  God's  ordering,  and  how 
remarkably  the  actors  take  their  places  in  their  several 
parts  at  the  exact  moment  of  time  that  they  are  needed. 
"Thou  shalt  go  on  forward  from  thence,"  said  the 
prophet  to  the  man  whom  he  had  anointed,  ' '  and 
thou  shalt  come  to  the  plain  of  Tabor,  and  there  shall 
meet  thee  three  men  going  up  to  God  to  Bethel,  one 
carrying  three  kids,  and  another  carrying  three  loaves 


112  THE  APOCALYPSE. 

of  bread,  and  another  carrying  a  bottle  of  wine  ;  and 
they  will  salute  thee,  and  give  thee  two  loaves  of 
bread,  which  thou  shalt  receive  of  their  hands. 
After  that  thou  shalt  come  to  the  hill  of  God,  where  is 
the  garrison  of  the  Philistines  ;  and  it  shall  come  to 
pass,  when  thou  art  come  thither  to  the  city,  that  thou 
shalt  meet  a  companj^  of  prophets  coming  down  from 
the  high  place  with  a  psaltery,  and  a  tabret,  and  a  pipe, 
and  a  harp,  before  them  ;  and  they  shall  prophesy ; 
and  the  Spirit  of  Jehovah  will  come  upon  thee,  and 
thou  shalt  prophesy  with  them,  and  shalt  be  turned 
into  another  man."  This  is  the  simple  prophetic 
narrative  ;  and  the  circumstances  are  of  the  simplest 
character,  yet  what  unseen  controlling  power  set  all 
these  different  personages  in  motion  at  a  particular 
moment ;  put  it  into  their  minds  to  carry  the  various 
things  enumerated,  and  to  dispose  of  them  in  a  manner 
that  they  should  be  inclined  to  do  ;  so  that  while  everj' 
movement,  every  thought  had  a  distinct  individuality, 
a  distinct  responsibility  in  itself,  yet  above  it  all  was 
a  guidance  so  amazing,  so  incomprehensible,  so  infinite 
in  wisdom  and  in  power,  that  as  we  contemplate  it, 
wonder  gives  place  to  adoration  and  we  fall  dowm  in 
worship  before  the  great  and  Holy  Being  who,  directing 
all  things,  has  revealed  Himself  to  us.  His  creatures, 
in  the  most  endearing  relationship  of  Father.  Oh 
my  God,  surely  thy  name  is  Love  ! 


A  DISSERTATION  THEREON.  II 3 

When  the  angels  are  loosed,  behold,  we  see  not 
angels  but  an  army  of  two  myriads  of  myriads  of 
horsemen.  We  are  approaching  now  the  end  of  the 
awful  events  which  have  been  transpiring  on  the  earth, 
and  in  the  combination  of  moral  and  physical  elements 
of  destruction  which  follow  the  sounding  of  the  sixth 
trumpet,  we  have  a  picture  which  we  look  upon  with 
awe,  but  which  we  are  sensible,  that  of  the  full  mean- 
ing, we  have  but  the  faintest  conception.  Vast  armies 
are  put  in  motion,  and  although  this  is  no  new  thing 
in  itself  in  the  history  of  the  world,  yet  these  are  so 
directly  energized  by  satanic  power  that  the  sulphure- 
ous flames  of  the  pit  surround  them  ;  fire  and  jacinth 
and  brimstone  form  their  breast-plates,  their  horses  are 
leonine  and  vomit  forth  fire  and  smoke  and  brimstone, 
there  is  the  irresistible  conquering  power  and  at  the 
same  time  the  awful  moral  effects  of  their  progress,  for 
the  power  of  the  horses  is  in  their  mouth  and  in  their 
tails  ;  fire  and  brimstone  precede  them  ;  the  bite  of  the 
serpent  follows  ,  and  the  third  part  of  men  are  killed, 
yet  the  effect  upon  the  survivors  is  not  the  repent- 
ance which  might  be  expected,  they  continue  their 
demon  worship,  their  idolatry,  and  their  desperate 
wickedness. 

The  first  woe  trumpet  was  awful  in  character,  but 
the  second  exceeds  it  in  every  particular  concluding 


114  THE  APOCALYPSE. 

with  the  serpent  headed  tails  and  the  unlimited  ven- 
omous period. 

If  the  Lord  permit,  I  shall  return  to  the  further 
consideration  of  the  effects  of  all  these  great  events 
when  we  come  to  follow  the  fuller  development  of 
them  in  a  later  part  of  the  book. 


A  DISSERTATION  THBREON.  I15 


CHAPTER  X. 


Chapter  ten,  and  the  first  fourteen  verses  of 
chapter  eleven  come  in  parenthetically  before  the 
sounding  of  the  final  woe  trumpet,  but  they  are  of 
immense  importance.  A  mighty  angel  comes  down 
from  heaven,  evidently  the  Lord  Himself  in  angelic 
character  as  all  the  accessories  go  to  show.  The 
shekinah,  the  rainbow  upon  His  head  ;  His  face  shin- 
ing like  the  sun,  as  upon  the  holy  mount ;  His  feet  as 
pillars  of  fire  as  when  He  walked  among  the  candle- 
sticks, all  speak  of  the  only  One  to  whom  they  could 
attach. 

The  position  taken  is  remarkable.  He  sets  His 
right  foot  upon  the  sea  and  His  left  on  the  earth.  He 
has  in  His  hand  a  Httle  book  open,  and  He  cried  with 
a  loud  voice  as  the  roaring  of  a  lion.  All  this,  it 
need  hardly  be  said,  is  symbolical,  but  what  does  it 
symbolise  ?  We  shall  see  in  the  development  part  of 
our  book,  which  we  must  somewhat  anticipate,  that 
two  men  have  come  into  great  prominence  before  the 
period  with  which  we  are  now  occupied,  one  having 


Il6  THE  APOCALYPSE. 

arisen  at  a  time  of  general  national  confusion,  and  the 
other,  after  order  had  been  re-established,  acquires 
power  and  place  through  ecclesiastical  position,  and 
both  of  these  are  the  direct  agents  of  Satan  by  whom 
they  are  energised  in  a  remarkable  way ;  they  are 
the  representatives  on  earth  of  the  one  who  has  been 
received  by  the  world  as  its  god  and  prince.  Now  one 
of  these,  whom  the  Spirit  of  God  designates  as  wild 
beasts,  arises  out  of  the  vsea,  the  other  out  of  the  land, 
and  God  has  allowed  it  all  ;  has  allowed  this  trinity  of 
evil  to  become  rampant,  and  every  phase  of  iniquity  to  be 
manifested  in  its  most  hideous  form  ;  why,  has  been  a 
mystery,  but  the  revelation  of  the  reason  is  about  to  be 
made,  and  every  created  intelligence  in  God's  universe 
will  see  how  infinite  the  wisdom  which  has  allowed  sin 
to  work  out  its  own  destiny,  the  righteousness  which 
has  judged  and  condemned  it,  and  the  infinite  power 
which  has  at  length  triumphed  in  this  stupendous 
conflict  of  good  and  evil,  putting  down  the  author  of 
iniquity,  and  finally,  after  giving  him  a  short  respite, 
again  consigning  him  and  his  deluded  victims  to  an 
irrevocable  fate,  an  eternal  durance.  Now  this  wicked 
being  had  claimed  authority  over  all  the  race  of  men, 
and  the  power  of  death  was  his,  but  the  usurper  is  to 
be  overthrown  and  the  rightful  Sovereign  declares  that 
there  shall  be  no  more  delay.    All  things  are  His  by 


A  DISSERTATION  THEREON.  117 

right  of  creation,  the  heathen  are  His  by  inheritance, 
the  uttermost  parts  of  the  earth  are  His  possession,  and 
the  time  has  about  arrived  when  it  will  be  made  good, 
first  by  the  complete  destruction  of  His  enemies,  then 
b)'  the  blessings  which  He  will  bring  in  for  the  renewed 
earth.  The  seer  takes  the  little  open  book  and  eats  it, 
as  he  is  told  to  do,  and  finds  it  sweet  as  honey  to  the 
taste,  for  it  is  the  word  of  God,  but  the  after  effects 
were  bitterness,  it  was  judgment.  The  breaking  of 
the  seals ;  the  setting  in  motion  of  God's  providential 
dealings  with  man  in  judgment,  could  only  be  done  by 
One  who  had  acquired  the  right,  as  Son  of  Man,  to  do 
so,  but  the  open  and  manifest  ways  of  God  in  direct  and 
unmistakable  dealing  could  be  committed  to,  and 
proclaimed  by  an  apostle,  a  man  among  men.  But 
how  does  it  come  to  pass  that  he  is  yet  to  prophesy 
before  many  people  and  nations  and  kings  ?  Just  as 
we  saw  in  the  first  chapter  how  the  mysterious  inti- 
mation in  the  gospel  that  John  should  tarry  till  the 
lyord's  second  coming  is  being  fulfilled  in  his  continua- 
tion with  the  church  during  its  subsequent  career, 
through  his  prophetic  writings,  so  here  the  record  of 
those  coming  events  would  make  them  a  living  reality 
in  all  eyes,  whether  those  most  interested  would  hear, 
or  whether  they  would  forbear. 


Il8  THE  APOCALYPSE. 


CHAPTER  XI. 


A  reed  like  unto  a  rod  was  given  the  prophet,  and 
he  was  instructed  to  measure  the  temple  and  the  altar 
and  them  that  worship  therein.  What  a  remarkable 
instruction,  inasmuch  as  in  the  first  place  the  temple 
of  God  is  non-existent,  for  whatever  efforts  the  Jews 
may  make  at  rebuilding,  God  is  not  with  them  in  it_ 
and  the  Branch  it  is  who  builds  the  temple  after  this 
period.  Nor  is  there  any  uncertainty  about  the 
measurement  of  either  of  the  altars  ;  and  as  to  the 
measurement  of  those  who  worship  therein,  the  literal 
acceptance  would  have  no  meaning.  Evidently  then, 
it  is  the  moral  state  of  the  remnant  in  communion  with 
God  that  is  to  be  taken  knowledge  of,  and  if  so,  then 
it  is  the  golden  altar,  but  the  outer  court  God  takes  no 
account  of,  those  who  are  trampling  it  under  foot  are 
not  in  relationship  with  Him,  but  the  period  of  this 
defilement  is  coterminous  with  the  testimon}'  of  tlie 
two  witnesses  ;  with  the  period  in  which  the  times  and 
laws  are  given  into  the  hands  of  the  fourth  beast ;  a 
time,  and  times,  and  the  dividing  of  time  spoken  of 


A  DISSERTATION  THKREON.  II 9 

by  Daniel ;  and  the  time,  times,  andlialf  atime,  during 
which  the  woman  is  nourished  in  the  wilderness  which 
the  twelfth  chapter  of  this  book  speaks  of. 

Two  witnesses  are  now  introduced  without  ex- 
planation as  to  who  they  are,  or  whence  they  come, 
and  although  in  a  sense  it  is  expressive  of  completeness 
of  testimony  which  the  godly  remnant  shall  be  giving, 
yet  the  history  of  these  two  witnesses  preclude  the 
thought  of  any  general  application.  Theirs  is  a  sorrow- 
ful testimony,  yet  they  are  God's  witnesses,  the  Lord 
of  the  earth  ;  they  are  the  two  olive  trees  and  the  two 
candlesticks,  the  expression  of  the  power  and  energy 
of  the  Holy  Spirit,  light  bearers  in  the  midst  of  uni- 
versal darkness.  They  have  power  to  stay  the  rain, 
as  well  as  to  turn  the  waters  into  blood,  and  these 
things  did  Elijah  and  Moses  of  old.  The  former  is 
definitely  promised  before  the  great  and  dreadful  day 
of  the  lyord,  but  the  word  is  silent  as  to  who  the  other 
may  be.  The  mystery  of  iniquity  is  not  yet  completed, 
and  God,  for  His  own  wise  purposes  allows  them  to  be 
put  to  death  by  the  power  which  has  arisen,  apparently 
out  of  the  chaotic  state  of  the  nations  which  formed 
the  Roman  empire,  really  from  the  abyss,  and  if  their 
testimony  has  been  for  three  years  and  a  half  there  is 
a  corresponding  period  of  three  days  and  a  half  to 
make  perfectly  manifest  the  futility  of  their  work  as  to 


I20  THE  APOCALYPSE. 

any  moral  effect  upon  the  nations  of  the  world  ;  their 
dead  bodies  are  treated  with  every  indignity,  for  the 
earth-dwellers  are  so  blinded  of  Satan  that  the)'  see 
no  farther  than  the  instruments,  and  attribute  all  their 
calamities  to  them,  as  Ahab  did  to  this  same  Elijah 
centuries  before. 

How  utterly  futile  it  is  to  strive  against  God. 
Man  may  vainly  imagine  he  has  silenced  God's 
witnessess  and  yet  they  continue  to  rise  up  to  his 
dismay  and  discomfiture. 

These  stand  upon  their  feet  after  a  brief  period  of 
senseless  rejoicing  on  the  part  of  their  enemies,  and, 
called  up  to  heaven,  they  ascend  in  a  cloud  before  all. 
This  indeed  was  a  cause  of  fear,  as  anything  super- 
natural is,  but  it  is  only  when  a  great  earthquake 
destroys  a  tenth  part  of  the  city  and  seven  thousand 
people,  when  they  themselves  are  in  peril,  that  their 
thoughts  go  up  to  the  God  of  heaven.  Many  of  us 
have  seen  illustrations  of  this  in  profligate  men  being 
brought  face  to  face  with  death  and  crying  out  to  God 
for  relief,  with  many  promises  of  a  better  life,  and 
when  the  relief  is  granted  and  the  danger  past  it  is  all 
forgotten  ;  there  has  been  no  work  either  in  heart  or 
conscience,  and  the  last  state  of  that  man  is  often  worse 
than  the  first.  And  Jerusalem,  that  city  of  the  Great 
King,  what  a  history  is  hers  !     Endowed  and  enriched 


A  DISSERTATION  THEREON.  121 

as  a  centre  of  blessing  to  the  whole  earth,  a  place 
where  God  had  come  down  to  meet  and  dwell  with 
man,  its  blessings  and  its  renown  were  used  for  its 
own  exaltation  ;  to  exalt  itself  indeed  against  the 
Author  of  these  very  blessings  and  to  reject  Him  when 
He  came  in  grace  and  truth,  so  that  He  could  but 
weep  over  the  city  where  He  had  specially  set  His 
name.  It  was  a  continued  course  of  declension  until 
its  downward  progress  came  to  a  conclusion  in  its  utter 
destruction.  Yet  it  rose  again,  it  is  to  become  great, 
but  what  is  the  mind  of  the  Spirit  as  to  this  greatness  ? 
Spiritually  it  is  Sodom  and  Egypt  ;  corruption  the 
grossest,  and  worldliness  the  most  pronounced  in 
opposition  to  God  ;  but  there  is  another  characteristic  ; 
"where  also  our  Lord  was  crucified."  Surely  this 
would  be  suflBicient  for  such  an  abiding  curse  upon  the 
spot  that  there  could  be  no  revivification  !  That  no 
effort  of  man  could  ever  efface  the  stain  of  blood  upon 
it,  or  blot  out  the  awful  crime  of  the  deliberate  murder 
of  God's  dear  Son,  none  the  less  awful,  indeed  the 
more  so,  from  having  been  judicial.  But  the  grace  of 
God  is  so  amazing  that  the  place  where  our  Lord  was 
crucified  becomes  the  centre  from  which  refreshing 
streams  of  millenial  blessing  flow  forth  to  the  remotest 
parts  of  the  earth,  and  all  eyes,  all  hearts  will  turn 
towards  Jerusalem,  and  men  shall  say  ;  "  Let  us  go 
up,  I  will  go  also." 


122  THE  APOCALYPSE. 

The  sounding  of  the  third  woe  trumpet,  the 
seventh  and  last  of  the  series,  brings  to  a  close  God's 
judicial  dealings  with  the  earth,  for  in  the  eternal  state 
to  which  the  eighteenth  verse  leads  us,  reigning  has 
ceased  and  righteousness  dwells  forever.  The  elders 
are  alone  here  and  in  the  fullest  intelligence  of  divine 
actings,  they  fall  on  their  faces  and  worship,  because 
the  kingdom  of  Christ  is  set  up  over  the  earth  ; 
Jehovah,  Elohim,  Shaddai  reigns  ;  elsewhere  we  shall 
find  details.  He  comes  visibly  to  the  earth  accom- 
panied with  His  saints  whom  in  grace  He  has  identified 
with  Himself  in  government.  The  heathen  may  rage  and 
the  people  imagine  a  vain  thing  ;  the  kings  of  the  earth 
may  set  themselves,  and  the  rulers  take  counsel  together 
against  Jehovah  and  against  His  anointed  ;  yet  the 
heathen  have  been  given  Him  for  an  inheritance,  and 
the  uttermost  parts  of  the  earth  for  a  possession,  and 
He  proceeds  to  dash  them  in  pieces  as  a  potter's  vessel. 
And  then  the  last  great  assize  is  set,  the  dead  small 
and  great  stand  before  God,  and  those  destroyers  of 
the  earth  are  destroyed. 

In  this  last  presentation  we  have  reached  the 
conclusion  of  God's  dealings  with  the  earth  and  its 
inhabitants  in  time.  We  have  seen  how  this  dispensa- 
tion of  grace  which  began  with  the  most  striking 
manifestations  of  the  Holy  Spirit's  power,  a  dispensa- 


A  DISSERTATION  THEREON.  12^ 

tion  unique  in  itself,  in  that  during  its  continuance 
the  Holy  Spirit  took  up  His  abode  upon  the  earth, 
dwelling  in  the  church  corporately  and  in  individuals, 
soon  declined  from  its  exalted  position,  and  finally  was 
rejected  as  a  light  bearer  in  the  world.  The  question 
naturally  arises,  what  are  the  causes  which  led  to  such 
deplorable  results  ?  Hov/  is  it  that  the  precepts  and 
example  of  the  blessed  lyord  in  His  walk  upon  earth, 
the  written  word,  the  presence  and  guidance  of  the 
Holy  Spirit  have  not  maintained  the  testimony  at  the 
altitude  of  its  first  blessed  presentation  ?  The  causes 
are  various,  their  workings  complex,  and  while  the 
ruin  at  the  end  is  patent,  it  is  difficult  to  apportion  to 
the  several  producing  causes  their  respective  parts  in 
the  rapidly  moving  and  changing  scene. 

We  see  in  past  dispensations,  in  the  present,  and 
in  the  coming  one,  that  there  is  a  certain  responsibility 
committed  to  man,  in  the  first  place  individually,  and 
then  in  the  aggregate,  God  allowing  man  to  work  out 
his  own  salvation  apparently  unrestrained.  There  is 
not  only  the  tremendous  struggle  of  good  and  evil  in 
the  world,  but  in  every  saint  of  God  there  exists  these 
two  opposing  principles  ;  and  this  world  is  the  arena  in 
which  the  great  combat  between  the  opposing  forces 
has  been  brought  to  an  issue.  As  in  all  great  battles 
the  fortunes  of  war  seem  at  times  to  favor  one  of  the 


124  THE  APOCALYPSE. 

combatants  and  then  the  other,  so  in  this  the  good 
seems  at  times  well  nigh  crushed  out  of  the  earth,  only 
to  arise  again  with  renewed  power  and  energy.  Now 
on  the  one  side  we  see  arrayed  the  world,  the  flesh,  and 
the  devil,  and  in  opposition  to  these,  respectively,  the 
Father,  the  Holy  Spirit  and  Christ  ;  the  earth  is  the 
scene,  the  heart  of  man  the  place  of  the  conflict.  The 
children  of  God,  even  the  babes,  know  the  Father,  a 
relationship  which  did  not  exist  in  the  past,  will  not  in 
the  future  ;  a  relationship  which  implies  a  change  of 
abode,  for  the  Father's  house  is  the  destined  home  for 
His  children,  although  the  world  may  have  a  counter 
and  present  attraction  for  the  heart ;  and  just  in  the 
degree  that  the  world  and  its  allurements  are  allowed  to 
sway  and  dominate  the  affections,  the  heart  finds  a 
lessening  joy  in  the  thought  of  the  heavenly 
inheritance. 

The  Holy  Spirit  is  ever  occupied  with  Christ  and 
ever  bringing  Him  before  the  soul  of  the  believer,  and 
in  the  degree  that  there  is  occupation  with  Him,  there 
is  the  transforming  power  which  changes  the  saint 
into  His  moral  likeness,  but  in  every  believer  there  is 
the  nature  in  which  he  was  born,  which  is  called  the 
flesh,  and  this  nature  seeks  its  gratification  in  materia 
and  sensuous  things  which  leads  into  direct  conflict  with 
the  Spirit,  who  is  presenting  unseen  and  spiritual 
things. 


A  DISSERTATION  THEREON.  1 25 

Finally  there  is  the  great  enemy  whose  power  is 
for  the  present  permitted  until  at  last  all  the  opposing 
forces  arrayed  against  the  good  have  been  allowed  to 
manifest  their  awful  character,  and  the  judgment 
which  then  intervenes  and  closes  the  lists  will 
commend  itself  to  every  created  intelligence  in  heaven, 
earth  and  hell.  Now  this  great  power,  fallen  indeed 
and  degraded  morally,  is  always  in  direct  and  deadly 
hostility  to  Christ.  When  He  was  born  he  sought 
His  destruction,  and  at  last  the  devil  apparently 
conquered  at  the  cross  of  Christ,  but  the  conquest 
was  really  a  defeat,  for  the  One  who  went  down  into 
death  burst  its  bands  and  rising  out  of  it  annulled 
thereb}'  the  power  of  him  who  had  the  power  of  death, 
and  not  only  was  this  true  as  to  Himself,  but  He 
opened  a  door  for  all  His  own  who  thereafter  should 
be  called  upon  to  pass  through  death. 

This  then  is  the  great  trinity  of  evil,  and  while 
distinct  in  character,  yet  as  the  tendency  of  each  is  the 
alienation  of  the  heart  of  man  from  God  and  thus 
all  working  to  a  common  end,  the  distinctness  becomes 
merged  or  interwoven,  if  not  in  inception  and  action  at 
least  in  effect,  and  when  we  undertake  to  apportion 
the  cause  of  the  ruin  into  which  we  see  the  church  of 
Christ  has  fallen,  among  the  authors  of  that  ruin,  we 
soon  learn  how  impossible  the  sub-division  is ;  stilL 


126  THE  APOCALYPSE. 

* 

there  are  certain  marked  features  and  we  find  that 
into  the  hearts  of  those  who  had  overcome  the  wdcked 
one  the  Spirit  of  God  foresees  the  danger  of  the 
entrance  of  the  world  and  warns  against  it.  ' '  Love 
not  the  world,  neither  the  things  that  are  in  the  world. 
If  an}?-  man  love  the  world,  the  love  of  the  Father  is 
not  in  him. ' '  While  the  thought  of  the  Lord's  coming 
was  fresh  before  the  hearts  of  the  saints  at  the 
beginning  of  the  age,  there  was  a  distinct  line  of 
demarkation  from  the  world,  but  as  this  blessed  hope 
waned  there  came  in  by  insensible  degrees  a  conformity 
to  worldly  waj^s  and  an  allowance  of  carnal  desires, 
pleasant  indeed  to  the  natural  heart,  but  warring 
against  the  soul.  To  an  angel  these  things  would 
present  no  attraction,  but  in  man  there  is  a  nature 
which  responds  to  them,  and  the  flesh  is  the  soil  in 
which  they  grow  luxuriantly.  Given  these  conditions 
it  needs  but  the  cultivator  to  ensure  a  crop,  and  the 
devil  knows  well  how  to  make  use  of  the  appliances 
ready  at  his  hand  for  the  overthrow  of  souls  ;  he  uses 
with  exceeding  skill  and  unwearied  energ}%  the  world 
to  the  allurement  of  the  flesh,  and  the  flesh  to  the 
cultivation  and  embellishment  of  the  world,  until  the 
desire  for  the  heavenly  inheritance  becomes  enfeebled, 
then  wearisome,  then  distasteful,  and  the  child  of  God, 
in  waj'-s,  in  speech,  and  in  a.ssociation  is  indistinguish- 
able from  earth-dwellers. 


A  DISSERTATION  THEREON.  1 27 

The  fatal  error  of  baptismal  regeneration  which 
found  its  way  into  the  church  at  a  very  early  age,  and 
upheld  by  men  whose  piety  and  devotion  cannot  be 
questioned,  had  the  effect  of  making  Christianity 
hereditary,  and  the  ranks  became  filled  with 
unbelievers.  The  favor  of  the  world  and  the  domina- 
tion of  a  wicked  ecclesiasticism  completed  the  work  of 
destruction,  and  the  church,  so  beautiful  at  first,  a 
chaste  virgin  espoused  to  Christ,  became  a  hideous 
caricature  of  its  early  days.  We  sometimes  see  a 
young  lad  of  such  attractive  personal  appearance  and 
such  ingenuous  and  winning  ways  that  our  hearts  are 
won  to  him  at  sight,  but  twenty  or  thirty  years  later 
we  meet  a  besotted  and  degraded  man  upon  whose  face 
licentiousness  and  intemperance  have  set  their  mark  in 
such  manner  that  all  traces  of  the  lovely  youth  have 
been  defaced,  and  we  are  repelled  rather  than  attracted. 

How  sad,  how  inexpressibly  sad,  that  the  church 
which  should  have  been  a  testimony  for  Christ  in  the 
world,  presenting  an  unbroken  front  to  the  enemy, 
should  now  be  seen  in  numberless  companies,  not  only 
acting  independently  one  of  another,  but  frequently  in 
relentless  hostility  ;  the  evidence  that  the  Father  had 
sent  the  Son  destroyed,  the  authority  of  Christ 
practically  rejected  ;  the  presence  of  the  Holy  Spirit 
ignored  ;  and  the  very  revelation  of  God's  holy  will, 


128  THE  APOCAI.YPSK. 

the  precious  book  which  He  has  given  us,  attacked  by 
His  professed  servants  all  along  the  line  of  the  pro- 
fession, and  in  every  part  of  its  blessed  communications 
from  Genesis  to  Revelation. 

The  last  verse  of  the  eleventh  chapter  takes  us 
back  to  begin  again  in  detail  a  more  developed  history 
of  what  we  have  been  considering,  with  related 
subjects  and  a  revelation  of  the  hidden  springs  and 
influences  which  have  led  on  to  a  crisis  of  such  magni- 
tude that  the  whole  course  of  things  throughout  the 
world  has  been  completely  changed  ;  that  is,  speaking 
apocalyptically,  for  the  vision  is  a  revelation  of  things 
still  future.  To  this  then  the  last  verse  of  chapter 
eleven  is  introductory,  and  if  in  a  previous  chapter  we 
have  seen  God's  gracious  reminder  in  the  bow  of  His 
covenant  with  the  earth,  here  His  earthly  people  are 
reminded  of  His  covenant  relationship  with  them,  in 
the  ark,  and  in  the  temple,  however  awful  the  character 
of  His  judgments  upon  His  enemies  may  be.  The 
figurative  character  of  our  book  is  very  marked  here, 
for  as  a  matter  of  fact  there  is  neither  temple  nor  altar 
in  heaven,  yet  the  figure  strikingly  brings  before  us 
the  ways  of  God  ;  on  earth  His  acts  may  be  seen. 


A  DISSERTATION  THDREON.  1 29 


CHAPTER  XII. 


And  now  the  Spirit  of  God  takes  us  back  nineteen 
hundred  years  to  the  birth  of  Christ,  to  the  fulfilment 
of  Isaiah's  prophecy,  "unto  us  a  Child  is  born,  unto 
us  a  Son  is  given,"  uttered  seven  hundred  years  before, 
and  in  the  presentation  bringing  vividly  before  us  the 
dream  of  Joseph  a  thousand  years  before  that  again. 
It  is  clearly  Israel  that  is  referred  to,  ' '  of  whom  as 
concerning  the  flesh  Christ  came,  who  is  over  all,  God 
blessed  forever.  Amen."  I^ooked  at  from  the  side  of 
the  earth,  we  see  as  yet  neither  sun  nor  moon  nor  a 
crown  of  twelve  stars,  this  is  in  purpose,  but  we  see  a 
woman  travaihng  in  birth  and  pained  to  be  delivered. 
The  throes  into  which  the  nation  was  cast  by  the 
preaching  of  John  was  remarkable.  A  moral  re-adjust- 
ment in  cutting  down  and  levelling  up,  prepared  in  the 
desert  a  highway  for  God  in  the  person  of  Jesus.  The 
glory  of  Jehovah  was  to  be  revealed  and  all  men  mused 
in  their  hearts,  whether  John  were  not  himself  the 
Christ.  But  the  woman  brought  forth  her  Son,  not 
the  church  surely,  for  the  bride  is  in  figure  taken  from 


130  THE  APOCAI.YPSE. 

the  side  of  the  sleeping  Adam.  The  blood  and  watei 
that  flowed  from  the  side  of  a  dead  Christ,  as  the  rib 
of  old,  was  the  foundation  for  the  building  of  the  help- 
meet. As  to  Christ,  it  is  the  man  from  the  woman,  as 
to  the  church  it  is  the  woman  from  the  man. 

Another  wonder  is  seen  in  heaven,  a  great  red 
dragon,  a  monster,  having  seven  heads  and  ten  horns, 
and  a  crown  upon  each  head,  stands  ready  to  devour 
the  child,  the  long  promised  seed  of  the  woman.  What 
this  great  red  dragon  is  was  fully  explained  to  the 
prophet  Daniel  in  his  day  by  one  of  those  who  stood 
by.  "Thus  he  said.  The  fourth  beast  shall  be  the 
fourth  kingdom  upon  earth,  and  the  ten  horns  out  of 
this  kingdom  are  ten  kings  that  shall  arise ;  and 
another  shall  rise  after  them  ;  and  he  shall  be  diverse 
from  the  first,  and  he  shall  subdue  three  kings. ' ' 

How  great  the  contrast  of  things  as  viewed 
from  heaven  or  viewed  from  earth.  Here  a  great 
kingdom  had  arisen  with  a  hundred  and  twenty 
millions  of  subjects  ;  nearly  the  entire  civilized 
population  of  the  time.  Prosperity  was  universal  ; 
the  arts  and  sciences  flourished ;  men  were  living 
whose  renown  has  spread  through  all  lands,  and 
whose  works  still  remain  as  models  of  perspicuity^ 
diction,  and  matter.  It  was  called  the  golden  age,  and 
numbers  of  books  have  been   written   extolling  the 


A  DISSERTATION  THKREON.  131 

glories  of  the  reign  of  Augustus,  under  whom  Rome 
had  ceased  to  be  a  republic  and  became  an  empire. 
Herod  the  great,  whom  the  romans  had  allowed  to 
assume  royal  dignity,  represented  the  empire  at 
Jerusalem,  and  by  him  the  temple  of  Zerubbabel  which 
had  fallen  into  ruins  was  rebuilt  in  great  magnificence, 
so  much  so  that  the  Lord's  disciples  could  call  His 
attention  to  it  and  connected  buildings.  Herod's 
crimes  in  destroying  the  lives,  not  only  of  his  enemies, 
but  of  those  who  were  bound  to  him  by  the  nearest 
ties  of  relationship,  show  us  of  what  stuff  the  world's 
heroes  are  made,  and  it  was  this  man,  the  representa- 
tive of  the  great  roman  power  who  gave  the  command 
from  his  death  bed  for  the  destruction  of  the  little 
children  of  two  years  of  age  and  under  in  the  village  of 
Bethlehem,  that  with  them  He  that  was  born  King  of 
the  jews  might  perish.  This  is  as  things  appear  here 
in  looking  at  the  great  roman  empire,  but  going  behind 
the  scenes  the  Spirit  of  God  sums  it  all  up  as  a  great 
red  dragon  standing  ready  to  devour  the  man  Child. 
And  well  may  it  be  said  to  be  red,  for  the  blood  of  the 
martyrs  of  Jesus  has  flown  in  torrents  through  the 
streets  of  the  imperial  city,  which  God  has  silently 
allowed,  and  as  silently  recorded. 

But  the  man  Child  was  born,  and  soon  will  break 
the  nations  with  a  rod  of  iron,  and  dash  them  in  pieces 


132  THE  APOCALYPSK. 

like  a  potter's  vessel,  meantime  He  is  caught  up  unt(> 
God  and  to  His  throne  and  the  woman  escapes  to  the 
wilderness,  but  it  is  many  centuries  after,  where  for 
three  and  a  half  years  she  is  miraculously  sustained. 
Now  occurs  that  which  might  seem  confusing  at  first 
sight  but  is  really  not  so,  for  the  great  red  dragon  is 
seen  to  be  none  other  than  Satan,  how  then  can  he  be 
Rome  ?  The  explanation  is  simple  enough  and  will 
appear  somewhat  later  when  we  shall  see  that  it  is 
expressly  stated  that  this  fourth  and  last  great  king- 
dom is  energised  directly  by  Satan. 

Going  back  again  to  old  testament  scriptures  we 
find  that  the  prophet  Daniel  speaks  of  the  cutting  off 
of  the  Messiah  after  sixty  and  nine  sevens,  which  was 
literally  fulfilled,  and  that  another  week  or  seven 
awaits  fulfilment,  and  that  it  begins  to  run  from  the 
time  that  a  covenant  is  made  between  the  head  of  the 
revived  roman  empire,  whose  people  destroj^ed  the 
city  and  the  sanctuary,  and  the  jews  who  had  returned 
to  their  own  land  ;  the  many,  unbelievers.  The 
middle  of  this  covenanted  period  is  an  important 
epoch.  Several  events  of  the  greatest  moment  occur, 
and  while  the  order  of  their  occurrence  is  not  clear,  it 
would  seem  that  they  are  almost  simultaneous. 

After  the  translation  of  the  church,  a  professedly 
christian   form   of    worship  continues  which  a  later 


A  DISSERTATION  THEREON.  1 33 

chapter  gives  us  the  record  of,  and  at  the  same  time  a 
Jewish  ritual  and  service  has  been  established  at 
Jerusalem.  Now  a  diversity  of  religions  is  a  source  of 
weakness  in  a  kingdom,  as  a  common  religion  is  a 
source  of  strength.  This  Nebuchadnezzar  saw  and 
sought  to  make  himself  a  common  object  of  worship. 
The  last  head  of  the  roman  empire  will  do  the  same 
and  adopt  a  similar  expedient,  but  to  accomplish  this 
the  two  leading  forms  of  worship  must  be  suppressed, 
and  a  bitter  persecution  against  Judaism  and  psuedo 
Christianity  ensues.  Among  the  former  there  is  a 
remnant  of  grace,  and  this  remnant  is  under  God's 
direct  protecting  care  ;  the  latter  is  a  nauseous  thing  ; 
a  corruption  of  God's  most  blessed  work  of  grace 
upon  earth,  and  wholly  given  up  to  judgment.  But 
while  this  is  taking  place  upon  earth,  another  and  an 
amazing  scene  is  transpiring  in  heaven.  Satan  and 
his  angels  have  long  defiled  the  heavenly  places. 
The  Philistines  in  Canaan  are  a  type  of  this.  But  the 
time  has  arrived  when  they  must  be  cast  down,  and 
the  heavens  changed,  and  Michael  that  exalted  being, 
a  prince  and  an  archangel,  the  head  of  angelic  hosts, 
and,  so  far  as  we  know,  the  greatest  of  created  intelli- 
gences in  heaven,  engages  in  battle  with  that  old 
serpent  the  devil  and  his  hosts  to  their  utter  and  final 
discomfiture.     He  had  been  the  unceasing  accuser  of 


134  THR  APOCAI.YPSE. 

the  brethren  before  God,  and  on  earth  he  had 
apparently  been  victorious  over  them  and  had  put  them 
to  death,  but  there  was  a  moral  victory,  and  it  was 
theirs.  One  had  been  down  into  death  before  and  for 
them,  and  He  it  was  who  had  the  keys  of  death  and  of 
hades,  how  could  they  be  held  therein  ?  The  blood  of 
the  slain  Lamb,  that  which  to  the  natural  mind  is  only 
an  expression  of  the  most  utter  weakness,  is  to  faith  an 
irresistible  power,  and  in  this  strength  the  Lord's 
hosts  go  forth  to  battle  and  to  assured  victory. 

We  speak  of  the  heavens  being  changed,  but  the 
reality  of  it  exceeds  anything  that  the  human  mind 
can  conceive.  Far  back  in  eternity  the  fall  of  the 
anointed  cherub  that  covereth,  whom  God  had 
expressly  appointed  as  such,  with  all  the  angels  who 
joined  him,  was  a  most  important  event.  God's  long 
forbearance  with  such  an  arch-rebel  was  amazing,  3et 
God  had  a  purpose  in  allowing  the  nefarious  work  of 
Satan  to  continue,  and  when  this  purpose  as  to  the 
heavens  is  accomplished  the  accuser  is  cast  down,  but 
who  can  imagine  the  consequences  of  such  an  invasion 
upon  the  inhabiters  of  the  earth  ;  unrestrained  satanic 
power  will  be  awful  indeed,  but  there  is  a  remnant 
upon  whom  the  eye  of  God  ever  rests.  Satan  may 
organize  a  great  movement  against  this  remnant,  but 
how  futile,  the  One  who  taketh  up  the  mountains  as  a 


A  DISSERTATION  THEREON.  135 

very  little    thing    can    frustrate    the    movement    by 
natural  means,  and  He  does  so. 

Thus  we  see  in  this  comprehensive  chapter  an 
unfolding  of  the  greatest  mysteries.  God's  ancient 
people  under  the  figure  of  a  woman  are  presented,  and 
in  the  full  administrative  glory  of  the  millenial  reign 
crowned  with  twelve  stars.  All  subordinate  and  merely 
reflective  power  is  under  her  feet,  but  this  is  future, 
meantime  Christ  is  born  of  her,  and,  preserved  from  the 
rage  of  the  dragon,  is  caught  up  to  God's  throne. 
The  work  of  redemption,  and  the  bride  of  the  Lamb 
are  not  before  us,  nor  the  translation  of  the  saints. 
When  the  Lord's  people  are  caught  up  it  is  to  occupy 
a  place  with  Him  upon  His  throne  as  Son  of  man,  not 
surely  upon  the  throne  of  God,  besides  it  is  altogether 
another  connection  here.  Then  we  see  the  great  red 
dragon  which  had  essayed  to  destroy  the  Child,  after- 
wards seeks  to  destroy  the  mother,  in  the  first  place 
the  roman  power  at  the  instigation  of  Satan,  but  at 
the  last,  while  still  through  the  same  instrumentality, 
yet  more  directly  and  immediately  under  his  guidance 
and  by  his  power,  and  this  act  is  spoken  of  as  his. 
The  war  in  heaven  precedes  this  persecution,  but 
God's  ancient  people  are  miraculously  protected  and 
nourished  during  the  space  of  time  between  the 
denunciation  of  the  treaty  which  had  been  made  by  the 


136  THE  APOCAI^YPSE. 

roman  emperor  with  the  jews,  and  the  coming  of  the 
lyOrd  to  the  earth,  three  and  a  half  years,  and  during 
the  same  period  the  two  witnesses  are  giving  their 
testimony.  In  the  next  succeeding  chapters  we  shall 
see  a  fuller  opening  out  of  the  prophecy  of  these 
amazing  events. 


A  DISSERTATION  THEREON.  1 37 


CHAPTER  XIII. 


I  do  not  propose  to  take  up  the  disputed  question 
as  to  whether  it  was  the  prophet  or  the  dragon  who 
stood  upon  the  sand  of  the  sea ;  the  point  is  not  so 
much  who  was  observing  as  what  was  being  observed. 
The  prophet  stands  upon  the  shore  and  looking  out 
over  a  boundless  expanse  of  turbulent  waters,  sees  a 
wonderful  sight  that  commands  his  rapt  attention  ; 
a  wild  beast  of  frightful  appearance  rises  out  of  the 
sea.     We  are  not  left  in  any  doubt  as  to  the  meaning 
of  this  figure  for  centuries  before  the  prophet  Daniel 
had  seen  in  a  dream  the  same  beast  arise  from  the  same 
source,  and  the  explanation  is  given  to  him,  that  the 
four  wild  beasts  he  saw  arise  were  the  four  great 
successive  world  monarchies,  the  last  of  which  being 
the  roman  empire,  and  the  great  red  dragon  of  the 
previous  chapter,  which  we  have    been  considering. 
At  that  time  the  four  winds  of  heaven  burst   forth 
upon  the  great  sea,  and  it  is  matter  of  history  that  the 
nations  then  existing  were  disturbed  at  the  time  that 
the  first  of  these  wild  beasts,  Babylon,  emerged  from 
the  confusion.     All  this  simplifies  the  explanation  of 


138  THE  APOCALYPSE. 

the  imagery  used  in  our  chapter,  but  another  difficulty- 
presents  itself,  for  while  in  the  twelfth,  thirteenth,  and 
seventeenth  chapters  of  our  book  this  wild  beast  has 
seven  heads  and  ten  horns,  and  in  Daniel  also  ten 
horns,  yet  in  the  twelfth  chapter  the  diadems  with 
which  it  was  crowned  were  seven  in  number  and  upon 
the  heads,  here  there  are  ten  diadems  and  they  are  not 
upon  the  heads  but  upon  the  horns.  Passing  over  the 
second  verse  in  which  this  wild  beast  is  seen  to  have 
all  the  untamed  characteristics  of  his  three  pre- 
decessors, we  learn  that  one  of  its  heads  was  wounded 
to  death,  and  yet,  to  the  wonderment  of  the  world  this 
deadly  wound  is  healed.  In  this  we  shall  find  the 
explanation  of  the  crowned  heads  and  crowned  horns. 
The  government  of  Rome  was  first  under  kings,  then 
consuls,  then  dictators,  then  decemvirs,  then  military 
tribunes,  then  emperors,  and  the  coming  form  will 
still  be  imperial,  yet  federal,  as  we  now  see  in  the 
german  empire.  The  imperial  has  been  wounded 
apparently  beyond  the  possibility  of  resuscitation,  but 
it  will  again  arise,  and  while  the  Spirit  of  God  views  the 
beast  here  in  its  entirety,  yet  historically  the  various 
forms  of  government  were  consecutive  and  the  crowns 
were  upon  each  of  the  heads  as  they  developed,  but  at 
the  last  the  union  of  the  ten  confederated  kingdoms, 
not  one  power  but  ten  united  powers,  shows  us  the 
crowns  upon  the  horns. 


A  DISSERTATION   THEREON.  139. 

Going  back  again  to  Daniel  we  find  a  man  of  no 
great  importance  at  first,  as  it  would  seem,  yet  who 
gets  the  chief  place  in  this  federation,  and  three  of  the 
kings  resisting  apparently  his  authority,  are  over- 
thrown and  the  head  of  the  confederation  becomes  also 
the  king  of  these  three  component  parts. 

The  question  arises  when  does  this  take  place, 
before  or  after  the  translation  of  the  saints  ?  but  it  is 
impossible  to  give  an  answer  to  the  question  as  the 
only  data  we  have  before  the  middle  of  Daniel's  last 
week  is  the  covenant  which  the  roman  emperor  makes 
with  the  jews  who  have  returned  to  their  own  land, 
and  which  is  for  seven  years,  so  that  he  must  be  in 
power  before  the  beginning  of  the  week  of  tribulation  ; 
and  then  the  question  arises,  what  length  of  time 
elapses  between  the  rapture  of  the  saints  and  the 
beginning  of  the  last  seven  years,  but  here  again 
scripture  is  silent,  yet  inasmuch  as  the  actors  in  the 
last  great  events  have  nearly  all  taken  their  places, 
while  the  remainder  are  in  view,  the  inference  is  that  if 
the  upheaval  of  the  nations  does  not  take  place  before 
the  translation  it  will  be  immediately  after.  Russia, 
the  Gog,  prince  of  Rosh,  Meshech  and  Tubal  of 
Ezekiel  is  now  present,  and  although  but  recentl}'', 
comparatively,  formed  into  a  kingdom,  yet  we  not 
Dnly  see  herself  but  her  confederates,  or  most  of  them^ 


140  THE  APOCALYPSE. 

already  arrayed  at  her  side.  The  king  of  the  north 
"^•ill  be  seen  just  as  soon  as  it  answers  Russia's  purposes 
to  make  Armenia  into  an  independent  kingdom,  and 
Russia's  convenience  will  be  God's  time.  Egypt's 
great  prosperity  is  that  of  the  king  of  the  south,  and  the 
semi-barbarous  tribes  of  Greece  have  only  in  this 
century  been  welded  into  a  community.  Italy,  the 
roman  kingdom,  has  been  formed  from  a  number  of 
petty  kingdoms  within  the  memory  of  persons  now 
living  who  have  passed  middle  age.  The  treaty  of 
Berlin  which  gave  Cyprus  to  Great  Britain,  gave  at 
the  same  time  a  significance  to  the  prophecy  as  to  the 
ships  of  Chittim  which  did  not  previously  exist. 

The  return  of  the  jews  to  Palestine  in  unbelief,  of 
which  Isaiah  prophesied,  is  even  now  going  on.  But 
if  the  geographical  and  political  changes  which  have 
been  taking  place  are  startling,  the  social  and  religious 
are  not  less  so,  for  in  every  civilized  country  we  see  in 
what  manner  secret  societies  have  undermined  the 
whole  social  fabric,  and  finally  we  see  a  most  remark- 
able and  unexpected  advance  of  roman  Catholicism  ; 
now  both  these  latter  influences  are  clearly  set  forth  in 
the  scriptures  which  speak  of  the  last  days,  and  I  only 
refer  here  to  the  existing  state  of  things  in  the  world 
for  the  purpose  of  showing  that  all  things  are  now  ripe 
for  the  concluding  events  of  this  eventful  age — that 


A  DISSERTATION  THEREON.  141 

any  day,  any  hour,  the  Lord  may  be  expected  for  His 
saints,  and  that  thereafter  no  lengthy  period  need 
necessarily  elapse  before  the  beginning  of  the  awful 
series  of  divine  judgments  revealed  to  us  in  this 
apocalyptic  book. 

The  politico-religious  device  meets  with  success, 
and  all  the  world  is  ready  for  the  new  religion.  It 
would  appear  to  be  first  put  out  tentatively  and 
probably  before  the  attempted  suppression  of  other 
forms  of  worship,  but  the  notable  man  who  is  to  be  at 
the  head  of  the  greatest  confederation  the  world  has 
yet  seen  has  behind  him  a  controller  of  super-human 
wisdom  and  power  so  that  the  worship  accorded  to  the 
emperor  is  in  reality  a  worship  of  Satan.  He  will  be 
an  exceedingly  able  man,  and  his  power  will  be  over- 
whelming ;  now  when  such  an  one  openly  speaks 
against  God  and  against  God' s  people,  at  the  same  time 
succeeding  in  all  his  enterprises  perfectly,  the  human 
heart,  which  is  always  at  enmity  to  God,  is  quite  read}^ 
to  throw  off  a  merely  professed  allegiance  to  Him, 
which  fear  has  instigated,  for  subjection  to  any  one 
who  is  able  to  maintain  a  position  of  independency  and 
hostility  towards  God.  At  whatever  period  these  new 
views  may  have  been  advanced  it  is  in  the  middle  of 
the  eventful  shabua  that  they  are  proclaimed,  and 
subjection  to  them  made  imperative.     But  there  are 


42  THE  APOCALYPSE. 

those  who  are  not  deceived  ;  a  poor  contemptible  little 
company,  probablj-  made  up  for  the  most  part  of  those 
who  have  no  weight  or  influence  in  the  community, 
but  their  names  were  written  from  the  foundation  of 
the  world  in  the  book  of  life  of  the  slain  Lamb.  Ye 
see  5'our  calling  brethren,  it  is  the  poor  of  this  world 
rich  in  faith,  who  are  made  heirs  of  the  kingdom. 

Besides  the  dragon  and  his  human  agent  there  is 
another  man  who  comes  forward  to  make  up  the  most 
infamous  trio  conceivable,  and  although  second  in 
importance  to  the  first  wild  beast,  as  things  appear  in 
this  world,  he  is  the  one  with  whom  the  Spirit  of  God 
elsewhere  is  more  especially  occupied,  as  he  is  the  one 
more  particularly  connected  at  the  last  with  God's 
l^eople  and  God's  land.  He  has  been  referred  to 
before  as  possibly  the  star  Wormwood,  and  if  this 
inference  should  be  found  to  be  correct  his  sudden 
elevation  and  his  wide  spread  influence  will  be 
accounted  for.  Wormwood  has  been  evidently  an 
exalted  ecclesiastical  dignitary,  professedly  connected 
with  heavenly  things,  and  universally  accepted,  at 
least  in  the  roman  earth,  as  a  spiritual  leader.  This 
man,  giving  up  every  pretence  of  God  worship,  and 
taking  up  ardently  the  new  religion,  becomes  at  once 
the  able  coadjutor  the  roman  emperor  requires  to 
make  his  religion  a  success,  and  he  confers  upon  him 


A  DISSERTATION  THEREON.  143 

great  power  and  authority.  He  does  not  come  on  the 
scene  until  the  empire  has  become  established,  at 
least  not  in  this  character,  and  although  power  is 
given  him,  his  exercise  of  it  at  first  is  gentle  and  lamb 
like,  yet  the  instructed  know,  when  they  hear  his 
words,  that  he  is  the  devil's  mouth-piece.  He  is  the 
antichrist  of  scripture  ;  the  one  who  comes  in  his 
own  name  whom  the  people  would  receive ;  the  false 
prophet  who  prophesies  lies ;  the  wicked  one  to  be 
revealed  whom  the  Lord  will  destroy  with  the  bright- 
ness of  His  coming ;  the  idol  shepherd  who  will  not 
feed  the  flock  ;  and  at  the  last  the  king  for  whom  the 
fires  of  tophet  are  made  hot. 

If  the  inception  of  the  new  religion  is  with  the 
roman  emperor,  the  development,  the  systematizing, 
and  the  putting  into  effect  of  its  principles  are  left  to 
the  able  man  who  has  not  only  the  power  of  execution 
committed  to  him,  but  is  also  allowed  of  God  to 
exercise  miraculous  powers  which  he  has  received  from 
his  master  the  devil.  Nothing  is  more  effective  for 
controlHng  minds,  or  more  awe  inspiring  in  the  world 
than  an  exhibition  of  super-human  power,  and  it  is 
the  pretence  of  this  that  sets  up  shrines,  and  opens 
communications  with  departed  spirits.  No  doubt  the 
devil  helps  his  agents  now  as  much  as  he  is  permitted 
to  do,  but  then,  God  will  allow  him  to  put  forth  many 


144  THE  APOCAI^YPSE. 

a  strong  delusion  in  order  that  those  who  would  not 
believe  the  truth  may  believe  a  lie  for  their  deserved 
destruction.  But,  some  one  may  ask,  if  miracles 
were  wrought  before  us  now,  if  fire  were  brought 
down  from  heaven,  and  a  mere  image,  the  work  of 
men's  hands  given  power  to  speak,  how  could  it  be 
known  that  the  miracles  were  not  of  God.  The 
apostle  says  by  the  Spirit  :  "  Though  we,  or  an  angel 
from  heaven,  preach  any  other  gospel  unto  you  than 
that  which  we  have  preached  unto  you,  let  him  be 
accursed."  And  again,  we  have  in  Isaiah:  "And 
when  they  shall  say  unto  you,  seek  unto  them  that 
have  familiar  spirits,  and  unto  wizards  that  peep,  and 
that  mutter:  should  not  a  people  seek  unto  their  God 
for  the  living  to  the  dead  ?  To  the  law  and  to  the 
testimony  ;  if  they  speak  not  according  to  this  word, 
it  is  because  there  is  no  light  in  them. ' '  We  have  the 
written  word  of  God,  and  everything  must  be  judged 
by  it,  whatsoever  then  is  not  in  accordance  with  the 
precepts  contained  therein,  however  much  it  may  be 
accredited,  must  be  utterly  rejected.  The  blessed 
Lord  came  doing  many  wonderful  works,  but  His 
credentials  were  not  in  these  merely,  but  in  the  fact 
that  He  came  in  fulfilment  of  prophecy  and  did  the 
works  which  the  Spirit  of  God  had  recorded  of  Him 
centuries  before. 


A  DISSERTATION  THEREON.  145 

The  pressure  upon  every  individual  to  accept  this 
anthropomorphism  will  be,  to  all  but  the  saints, 
irresistible.  A  sample  of  it,  in  a  small  way,  has  been 
recently  seen  in  Ireland,  and  if  a  few  individuals  by 
conspiring  could  make  boycotting  a  terror  in  a 
neighborhood,  how  impossible  it  would  be  for  any  to 
resist  when  a  powerful  government  demands  as  a  con- 
dition for  buying  or  selling  the  very  necessaries  of 
life,  that  the  insignia  of  the  new  religion  be  displayed. 
What  may  be  the  meaning  of  the  mystical  figures  it  is 
useless  now  to  discuss,  as  it  has  long  been  matter  of 
controversy,  and  while  important  for  cotemporaries  to 
know  is  not  of  the  same  interest  to  us  ;  suffice  it  that 
there  is  a  trinity  of  evil,  and  unitedly  or  separately  it 
is  manifest  to  all  who  are  wise  that  the  number  which 
indicates  completeness  is  never  attained. 


146  THE  APOCALYPSE. 


CHAPTER  XIV. 


The  seer  looks  out  again  and  sees  a  Lamb  on 
mount  Zion,  and  with  Him  an  hundred  forty  and  four 
thousand  having  His  name  and  His  Father's  name  on 
their  foreheads.  No  one  asks  who  they  are  or 
whence  they  come.  Many  had  just  now  received  the 
beast's  impression,  these  bear  before  all  the  Father's 
stamp,  being  in  number  expressive  of  governmental 
perfection  multiplied  into  itself  a  thousand  times,  and 
as  there  could  not  be  two  separate  companies  endowed 
with  supreme  control  it  follows  that  the  company  here 
before  us  are  those  who  had  been  previously  sealed, 
but  here  presented  under  different  circumstances,  with 
different  surroundings,  and  with  further  details  of 
position.  Before,  their  standing  was  not  recorded 
although  that  of  the  white  robed  multitude  was,  here 
they  are  on  mount  Zion,  how  blessed.  Sinai,  a  mount 
in  Arabia  which  gendereth  to  bondage,  with  all  its 
terrors,  is  past.  Their  standing  before  God  was  not 
on  the  mount  which  burned  with  fire,  where  was 
blackness  and  darkness  and  a  tempest,  and  the  sound 


A  DISSERTATION  THEJREON.  147 

of  a  trumpet  and  the  voice  of  words  which  they  that 
heard  intreated  that  the  word  should  not  be  spoken  to 
them  any  more,  but  they  were  come  unto  mount 
Zion  where  God's  grace  towards  His  people  was  mani- 
fested through  David  the  king,  type  of  David's  Son 
and  David's  I^ord  who  will  reign  before  His  ancients 
gloriously.  God  will  not  again  cast  man  upon  his 
responsibility  to  work  out  a  righteousness  which  the 
weakness  of  the  flesh  prevents,  and  although  the 
blessed  period  of  the  dwelling  of  the  Holy  Spirit  is 
past,  yet  God  has  still  rich  blessing  for  His  people. 
He  will  give  them  a  new  heart ;  He  will  put  a  new 
spirit  within  them  ;  He  will  take  away  the  stony  heart 
out  of  their  flesh  and  will  give  them  a  heart  of  flesh  ; 
He  will  put  His  Spirit  within  them,  and  cause  them  to 
walk  in  His  statutes,  to  keep  His  judgments  ;  He  will 
give  them  the  land  of  their  fathers  for  a  possession  and 
will  be  their  God.  The  unnumbered  white  robed 
multitude  may  only  know  that  they  are  saved  out  of 
all  their  troubles  and  give  God  the  glory  for  it,  but 
these  have  more  intelligence,  they  can  sing  the  song  of 
redemption,  they  are  guileless,  undefiled,  and  without 
fault,  the  first  fruits  to  God  and  to  the  L,amb.  A  vast 
population  will  inhabit  the  earth  under  Messiah's 
peaceful  reign,  but  these  tribulation  saints  will  have  a 
place  of  their  own,  having  learned  the  grace  of  God  in 


148  THE  APOCALYPSE. 

a  special  way,  and  they  follow  the  Lamb  whitherso- 
ever He  goeth.     Happy  people  ;  blessed  saints  of  God  ! 

Next  we  have  the  preaching  of  the  everlasting 
gospel  to  every  nation,  and  kindred,  and  tongue,  and 
people.  The  Lord's  commission  to  His  disciples  after 
His  resurrection  was  that  they  should  go  into  all  the 
world  and  preach  the  gospel  to  every  creature. 
Before  His  crucifixion  He  had  said  :  ' '  This  gospel  of 
the  kingdom  shall  be  preached  in  all  the  world  for  a 
witness  unto  all  the  nations  ;  and  then  shall  the  end 
come  ;  ' '  but  before  this  He  had  sent  forth  the  twelve 
apostles  with  conferred  powers,  to  testify  of  Him, 
with  this  remarkable  declaration  :  ' '  Verily  I  say  unto 
you,  ye  shall  not  have  gone  over  the  cities  of  Israel, 
till  the  Son  of  man  be  come. ' '  Again,  when  He  shall 
sit  on  the  throne  of  His  glory  and  the  nations  are 
gathered  before  Him,  the  judgment  of  the  goats  upon 
His  left  hand  is  because  of  their  rejection  of  His 
messengers  and  His  message  which  they  bore.  All 
this  is  simple  and  unmistakable,  and  so  far  from  con- 
firming the  general  belief  that  the  Lord  will  not  come 
until  the  gospel  is  universally  preached,  it  says  quite 
the  contrary.  When  the  twelve  are  sent  forth  at  the 
beginning  of  the  Lord's  ministry  or  get  their  final 
commission  after  His  resurrection,  thej''  are  looked  at 
as  the  ones  who  go  on  to  His  return  although  many 


A  DISSERTATION  THEREON,  149 

long  centuries  intervene,    and  they   themselves  have 
passed  off  the  scene ;  it  is  the  same  line  of  testimony 
although  not  the  same  individuals,  just  as  it  is  with 
the  virgins  who  go  to  sleep  and  waken  ages  after. 
They  were  to  go  into  all   the  world  preaching,  and 
teaching,   and   baptising,    and   they   should  continue 
their  work,  which  was  now  about  to  be  interrupted  by 
His  death  and  their  dispersion,  until  the  coming  of  the 
Son  of  man.     The  resumption  of  their  ministry  would 
be  after  the  translation  of  the  pre-millenial  saints,  and 
the  character  of  their  preaching  would  be  distinct  from 
the  gospel  which  now  goes  forth,  which  is  especially 
the  gospel  of  the  grace  of  God  to  the  rejectors  of  His 
Son,  yet  it  would  be  the  everlasting  gospel  inasmuch 
as  any  proclamation  of  the  glad  tidings  must  be  an 
announcement   of    His    grace.      The    day  of    God's 
judgment  had  arrived  and  all  were  called  upon  to  fear 
and  worship  Him,  but  inasmuch  as  only  those  who 
are  born  again  can  offer  worship  acceptable  to  God, 
it  follows  that  any  who  respond  to  the  proclamation 
have  been  the  objects  of  God's  transforming  power. 
I  know  there  are  those  who  demand  an  exact  line  of 
demarkation   between    God's  sovereignty  and   man's 
responsibility,  but  I  know  not  where  the  answer  can 
be  found.     "  Stretch  forth  thine  hand,"  the  I,ord  said 
to  the  man  with  the  withered  member.     ' '  He  stretched 


I50  THE  APOCALYPSE. 

it  forth  ;  and  it  was  restored  whole,  like  as  the  other." 
Who  can  separate  the  act  of  faith  from  the  power  of 
God. 

The  announcement  of  the  fall  of  Bab3'lon  comes  in 
here,  not  the  full  account  of  the  catastrophe  which 
comes  later,  but  in  contrast  with  the  everlasting  gospel. 
Rome  may  claim  to  be  the  eternal  city,  and  romanism 
to  have  its  foundation  upon  an  immovable  rock,  with 
power  to  crush  all  insubjection  ;  but  it  is  only  God's 
glad  tidings  that  is  everlasting,  and  the  instigator  of 
illicit  intercourse  with  a  guilty  world  will  in  due  time 
receive  her  richly  merited  doom. 

No  doubt  there  are  those  who  receive  the  trade 
mark  of  the  beast  whose  consciences  tell  them  they 
ought  not  to  do  so,  but  what  can  the}^  do?  whither 
can  they  turn?  If  they  are  of  the  company  that 
rejected  Christ  as  a  Saviour,  it  is  useless  to  turn  to 
Him  in  their  extremity,  their  day  of  offered  grace  has 
run  out.  If  they  are  of  those  to  whom  the  everlasting 
gospel  is  sent  forth,  and  who  see  no  way  out  of  the 
difficulty  in  which  the  edict  has  placed  them,  here  is 
for  them  a  most  solemn  word  of  warning  direct  from 
heaven.  If  any  worship  the  beast  or  receive  his  mark, 
the  undiluted  wrath  of  God  falls  upon  them.  It  is 
not  merely  a  question  of  buying  and  selling  in  this 
proclamation,  as  in  the  other,  nor  of  the  loss  of  the 


A  DISSERTATION  THEREON.  151 

natural  life.  The  consequences  of  subjection  to  the 
devil's  representative  are  most  fearful.  We  read  of 
these  awful  judgments,  and  we  speak  of  them,  but 
how  little  the  human  mind  is  able  to  grasp  the  mean- 
ing of  what  is  put  before  us  in  these  few  and  intensely- 
solemn  words.  An  unceasing,  unending  torment.  If 
it  were  intermittent  there  would  be  a  respite,  but 
there  is  none.  The  smoke  of  their  torment  ascends 
up  forever  and  ever  ;  and  the  unhappy  victims  of  their 
own  madness,  who  have  rejected  God  their  Creator, 
and  accepted  the  devil  as  their  lord,  have  no  rest,  and 
the  doors  of  their  prison  open  never  more.  I  do  not 
believe  in  fire  and  brimstone,  says  one ;  it  is  but  a 
figure.  A  figure  !  of  w^hat  is  it  a  figure  ?  I  do  not 
believe  says  another  that  God  will  ever  put  a  child  of 
His  into  a  lake  of  fire  and  brimstone.  Nor  do  I,  but 
the  children  of  the  devil  who  go  to  meet  God  in  that 
character  will  have  no  claims  upon  Him  for  mercy  and 
will  receive  none,  ' '  In  this  the  child l  en  of  God  are  mani- 
fest, ' '  says  the  apostle,  ' '  and  the  children  of  the  devil. ' ' 

The  test  applied  at  this  time  will  be  of  the 
severest  character,  but  the  endurance  of  the  saints, 
those  who  keep  the  commandments  of  God  and  the 
faith  of  Jesus,  will  be  very  precious. 

We  have  seen,  when  considering  a  previous 
chapter,    that  there  are   two   companies  of  martyred 


152  THE  APOCALYPSE. 

saints  during  this  period  ;  those  who  were  slain  for  the 
word  of  God  and  for  their  testimony,  and  those  here 
who  are  killed  for  not  receiving  the  mark  of  the  beast. 
The  first  company  is  quieted  b}'  the  assurance  that 
their  number  is  as  yet  incomplete  ;  but  the  word  to  the 
second  company  will  be  a  source  of  encouragement  and 
sustainment  even  if  called  upon  to  lay  down  their  lives. 
The  millenial  period  will  be  one  of  complete  earthly 
happiness ;  the  saints  of  a  previous  period  will  also 
have  learned  the  fulness  of  joy  and  the  pleasures  for- 
evermore  connected  with  His  personal  presence,  but 
what  of  the  intermediate  martyrs  ?  Ah,  we  may  well 
write  them  down  blessed,  for  if  they  have  missed  the 
earthly  possessions  it  is  but  to  receive  a  far  more 
excellent  portion  with  the  heavenly  saints,  and  be 
accounted  as  part  of  the  first  resurrection.  It  is  of 
interest  to  note  how  the  exercises  through  which  these 
tribulation  saints  are  passed  deepens  the  work  in  their 
souls,  and  increases  their  spiritual  intelligence.  The 
first  were  slain  for  the  word  of  God,  and  for  the  testi- 
mony which  they  held  ;  then  the  dragon  made  war 
with  those  who  keep  the  commandments  of  God,  and 
have  the  testimony  of  Jesus  Christ  ;  while  the  third 
class  spoken  of  keep  the  commandments  of  God,  and 
the  faith  of  Jesus. 

Again  we  are  brought  in  these  unfoldings  to  the 


A  DISSERTATION  THEREON.  153 

scenes  of  judgment,  in  the  harvest  and  the  vintage 
which  precede  the  end,  and  while  both  are  expressive  of 
judgment,  there  is  a  marked  difference  ;  for  when  it  is 
the  reaping  of  the  harvest,  the  Son  of  man  with  a 
golden  crown  upon  His  head  and  a  sharp  sickle  in  His 
hand  reaps  the  earth,  for  the  harvest  is  dried,  or  as  the 
ordinary  phrase  expresses  it,  dead  ripe,  while  in  the 
vintage  it  is  not  the  same  sharp  quick  work,  but  a 
more  impressive  and  methodical  procedure  in  which 
angelic  agencies  are  used,  and  the  clusters  cut  down 
and  then  cast  into  the  wine  press  before  the  final 
treading  out  takes  place.  Let  us  consider  these  deeply 
solemn  scenes  somewhat  more  fully  as  they  are  of 
immense  moment. 

The  harvest  and  the  vintage  are  evidently  intended 
to  convey  different  thoughts,  but  there  is  this  in 
common,  they  both  imply  cultivation,  and  while  the 
harvest  may  in  a  general  way  include  the  vintage, 
the  vintage  is  not  a  word  we  would  use  in  speaking  of 
the  harvest ;  here  however  we  have  both,  and  as  the 
vintage  is  specially  indicated,  the  harvest  must  convey 
another  thought. 

A  time  is  therefore  coming  when  God  will  deal  in 
judgment  with  that  which  has  professed  to  be  His,  in 
a  way  that  will  be  marked  out  and  distinct  from  His 
general  dealings  in  judgment  with  the  world.     It  is 


154  THE  APOCALYPSE. 

evidently  Christendom  and  Judaism  which  are  referred 
to  in  the  harvest  and  the  vintage.  Christ  had  been 
presented  to  the  world  as  an  object  of  faith,  and  the 
profession  of  His  name  was  widely  extended  for  some 
time  after  the  cross,  but  the  devil  soon  got  control 
of  a  movement  which  threatened  his  kingdom,  by 
using  a  corrupt  church,  which  professed  to  be  the 
pillar  and  ground  of  truth  but  was  not,  to  bring  in  a  cor- 
ruption of  the  truth  more  destructive  than  a  denial  of  it. 
As  the  centuries  passed  and  men  grew  tired  or  became 
disgusted  with  the  forms  of  deception  practiced,  others 
were  at  hand,  so  each  period  has  had  its  special  soporifics, 
and  vast  numbers  have  allowed  themselves  to  be 
rocked  to  sleep  in  the  devil's  cradle.  At  the  present 
time  there  is  a  religious  sentimentality  abroad  which 
the  great  enemj'  of  .souls  knows  so  well  how  to  direct 
into  channels  where  the  residuum  will  be  mud,  and  the 
froth  will  soon  be  all  evaporated,  there  will  be  nothing 
besides.  Religious  novels  filled  with  sickly  senti- 
mentalism  ;  novels  in  which  the  apostles  and  indeed 
sometimes  the  lyord  Himself  are  characters  ;  imaginary 
dreams  in  which  the  Lord  has  been  present  as  a  visitor  ; 
books  in  which  the  Lord  is  lauded  and  the  imitation  of 
Him  pressed  apart  from  His  eternal  Sonship  and  apart 
also  from  the  work  of  atonement,  are  all  sad  evidences 
of  the  descent  of  man  whom  Satan  leads  captive  at  his 


A  DISSERTATION  THEREON.  1 55 

will.  Christ  ceases,  by  the  modern  teaching,  to  be  an 
object  of  faith  set  before  a  sinner,  and  becomes  an 
object  of  emulation  for  salvation.  The  elevation  of 
the  masses  is  the  watchword  of  the  day,  and  professed 
servants,  who  if  they  were  really  such  would  be  leading 
souls  to  Christ  as  the  only  way  of  approach  to  God,  are 
largely  occupied  in  improving  the  morals  and  mending 
the  ways  of  these  who  are  destitute  of  divine  life,  and 
whether  moral  or  immoral  are  hastening  downwards  to 
perdition. 

When  king  Immanuel  in  the  holy  war  had 
brought  his  batteries  against  e^^e  gate  and  ear  gate  in 
the  attack  upon  the  citadel  of  Mansoul,  there  were 
those  who  rode  reformades  outside  the  camp.  They 
not  only  did  nothing  towards  making  the  attack 
effective,  but  they  distracted  the  attention  and  hindered 
the  progress  of  those  who  were  engaged  in  the  work. 
What  would  be  said  of  the  physician  who  only  thought 
of  removing  the  pustules  from  the  body  of  a  varioloid 
patient  instead  of  attacking  the  producing  cause. 
There  is  no  saving  value  in  moral  reformation,  the 
tree  is  corrupt,  the  fruit  cannot  be  good ;  new  birth, 
a  new  nature  are  indispensible.  Alas  !  that  so  many 
who  assume  to  preach  the  gospel  of  God  should  be 
preaching  the  pelagian  heresy  which  denies  the  fall, 
the  utter  ruin  of  the  race,  and  consequently  the  value 


1 56  THE  APOCALYPSE. 

of  the  atonement,  and  puts  before  perishing  souls  a 
wretched  nostrum  compounded  of  ingredients  which 
minister  to  the  pride  and  self-satisfaction  of  the  sinner, 
instead  of  casting  him  down  as  helpless  and  hopeless 
before  a  willing  and  waiting  Saviour. 

All  these  influences  are  tending  to  produce  that 
state  of  things  which  while  assuming  to  be  in  relation- 
ship with  God  is  merely  a  lifeless  carcass,  and  where 
the  carcass  is,  there  will  the  eagles  be  gathered  to- 
gether. Thus  the  harvest  is  becoming  ripe  for  the 
sickle  and  the  process  of  ingathering  will  be  considered 
when  the  fall  of  Babylon  is  before  us  in  later  chapters. 

But  there  is  not  only  the  harvest,  there  is  the 
vintage  ;  it  is  the  vine  of  the  earth  that  is  to  be  gathered, 
and  the  one  who  gathers  has  power  over  fire,  God's 
consuming  judgment.  Israel  had  been  planted  a 
noble  vine,  a  wholly  right  seed,  but  she  had  turned 
herself  into  a  degenerate  plant  of  a  strange  vine.  God 
had  taken  up  a  family,  a  people,  and  endowed  them 
with  His  richest  gifts.  To  them  He  had  committed 
the  glory,  and  the  covenants,  and  the  giving  of  the 
law,  and  the  service,  and  the  promises.  They  were 
the  adoption.  He  had  given  them  prophets,  and 
priests,  and  teachers.  What  could  have  been  done 
more  than  He  did  for  them,  and  how  unavailing.  In 
the  wilderness  they  took  up  the  tabernacle  of  Moloch, 


A  DISSERTATION  THEREON.  157 

and  the  star  of  the  god  Remphan,  figures  which  they 
made  to  worship.  In  the  land  they  had  as  many 
forms  of  idolatry  as  there  were  cities  in  Israel,  then 
they  were  carried  away  captive  to  Babylon.  If  God  in 
grace  brought  back  a  portion  of  Judah  to  a  house 
cleansed  from  idolatry,  swept  and  garnished,  in  order 
that  the  tribal  rod  should  not  depart  from  him,  nor  a 
law-giver  from  between  his  feet  until  Shiloh  came,  it 
but  manifested  more  clearly  the  state  of  the  nation  in 
their  rejection  of  the  One  who  came  in  grace  and 
truth,  thus  postponing  the  gathering  of  the  people  to 
Him,  and  consequently  leading  to  the  breaking  of  His 
staff  beauty.  Judah,  Isaiah  tells  us,  returns  to  the 
land  in  unbelief,  while  God  pleads  with  the  tribes  o^ 
Ephraim  in  the  wilderness.  All  had  been  abiding 
many  days  without  a  king,  and  without  a  prince,  and 
without  a  sacrifice,  and  without  an  image,  and 
without  an  ephod,  and  without  teraphim.  But  the 
time  comes  when  this  people  give  up  all  pretence  of 
relationship  with  Jehovah,  and  hasten  after  another 
god.  Was  it  not  He  that  cut  Rahab  and  wounded  the 
dragon?  Did  He  not  bring  out  His  people  from 
Egypt  with  a  high  hand  and  an  outstretched  arm? 
Did  He  not  feed  them  with  angel's  food,  the  food  of 
the  mighty,  by  the  space  of  forty  years  in  the  wilder- 
ness?    Did  He  not  stay   the  waters  of  Jordan  and 


158  THE  APOCALYPSE. 

make  them  rise  up  upon  an  heap  very  far  from  the 
city  of  Adam  that  is  beside  Zaretan?  Did  He  not 
drive  out  from  before  them  nations  greater  and 
mightier  than  they,  to  bring  them  in  and  give 
them  their  land  for  an  inheritance?  And  this  is 
the  God  whom  they  contemn  ;  from  whom  they  turn 
to  worship  a  mere  man  !  But  the  God  w4th  whom 
they  have  to  do  is  a  holy  and  a  righteous  God.  He 
may  wait  in  patient  grace  for  centuries  for  some 
indication  of  a  response  to  His  long-suffering  mercy, 
but  at  the  last  the  obduracy  and  rebellion  of  those 
upon  whom  His  grace  has  been  lavished  must  call 
forth  a  righteous  judgment,  all  the  more  severe  because 
of  despised  favors.  Angelic  powers  are  used  to  shape 
events,  and  then  the  awful  rod  of  divine  wrath 
descends,  and  blood  flows  even  to  the  horse  bridles. 

Thus  we  have  seen  in  our  chapter  the  company  of 
earthly  saints  whose  association  with  the  Lamb  is  on 
mount  Zion,  and  through  whom  He  will  exercise  His 
benign  rule  over  the  spared  nations  of  the  world. 
Here,  as  elsewhere,  it  is  evident  that  there  is  no  blessing 
for  the  earth  apart  from  the  work  of  the  cross.  The 
redeemed  are  with  the  Lamb  ;  they  follow  the  Lamb  ; 
they  are  the  first  fruits  unto  God  and  the  Lamb. 
Then  there  is  the  everlasting  gospel ;  then  the  fall  of 
Babylon  ,  then  the  warning  to  the  beast-worshippers  ; 


A  DISSERTATION  THEREON.  159 

the  blessedness  of  the  martyred  ones ;  and  lastly  the 
execution  of  the  judgment  of  the  Son  of  man,  upon 
that  which  had  professed  the  name  of  Jehovah  or  of 
Christ ;  the  jew  within  the  land,  the  professing  church 
without. 

The  reader  will  no  doubt  have  understood  that 
here,  and  in  other  places  in  this  remarkable  book, 
events  are  not  recorded  in  consecutive  order,  but  for  a 
moral  connection  which  will  be  apparent  when  the 
context  is  considered. 


l6o  THK  APOCALYPSB. 


CHAPTER  XV. 


Another  sign  is  seen  in  heaven,  great  and  marvel- 
lous, seven  angels  having  the  seven  last  plagues  which 
filled  up  the  wrath  of  God  ;  but  besides,  there  is  a  sea 
of  glass  mingled  with  fire  and  a  triumphant  company 
standing  thereon.  This  part  of  the  book  as  before 
remarked  is  a  re-consideration  of  scenes  and  circum- 
stances, in  some  instances  merely  glanced  at  as  the 
history  of  events  was  being  recorded  in  consecutive 
order.  After  that  was  completed  we  saw  in  the 
twelfth  chapter  a  view  of  things  from  the  birth  of 
Christ  to  the  end  of  the  tribulation  as  connected  with 
one  subject.  In  the  thirteenth  chapter  was  a  remark- 
able exhibit  of  the  two  important  personages  who  are 
the  chief  actors  in  the  closing  scenes,  and  if  that 
chapter  gives  us  the  devil's  side  of  things,  the  four- 
teenth gives  us  God's  side,  and  if  God  interposes  for 
the  rescue  of  His  people,  He  does  it  in  such  manner 
that  the  rescued  may  be  praised  for  qualities  with 
which  He  Himself  has  endowed  them  ;  but  this  is  just 
what  the  God  of  all  grace  is  ever  doing,  blessed  be  His 
hiOly  name ! 


A  DISSERTATION  THEREON,  l6l 

The  white  robed  company  of  chapter  seven  stand 
before  the  throne  ;  the  governmental  company  of 
chapter  fourteen  stand  with  the  Lamb  on  mount  Zion  ; 
but  in  the  fifteenth  another  company  is  seen,  and  what 
they  have  passed  through,  the  great  tribulation  antici- 
patively  considered,  as  well  as  in  what  their  victories 
consist.  They  are  acknowledged  to  be  blameless,  but 
if  the  sea  is  no  longer  for  purification,  the  fires  of  the 
tribulation  through  which  they  have  been  passing 
have  done  their  effectual  work,  and  the  victorj^  they 
have  achieved  is  a  moral  victory.  These  have  suffered 
martyrdom  for  not  worshipping  the  beast,  others  have 
been  brought  unscathed  through  the  persecution  to 
enter  into  millenial  blessing.  These  heavenl}-  saints 
sing  the  song  of  Moses,  the  song  of  redemption,  then 
speak  of  the  King  of  nations.  The  one  who  sits  upon 
the  throne  is  by  them  addressed  as  Jehovah,  Elohim, 
Shaddai,  so  that  if  their  testimony  on  earth  had  been 
but  a  negative  testimony,  they  simply  did  not  worship 
the  beast,  their  apprehension  of  heavenly  things  is 
correspondingly  feeble.  So,  many  who  are  now,  although 
children  of  God,  but  little  in  evidence  for  the  glory  of 
Christ,  will  in  the  coming  day  have  less  conception  of 
the  glories  of  heaven  than  others  who  have  been  more 
faithful  here. 

The  prophet  then  sees  the  temple  of  the  taber- 


1 62  THE  APOCALYPSE. 

nacle  of  testimony  opened  in  heaven,  and  seven  angels 
issuing  therefrom.  The}^  have  the  seven  plagues,  they 
are  clothed  in  pure  and  white  linen,  and  have  their 
breasts  girded  with  golden  girdles. 

Before  speaking  further  of  these,  I  shall  now  have 
to  advance  an  exegesis  of  the  vial  judgments  which 
some  will  perhaps  not  be  ready  to  accept,  but  which  I 
hope  to  be  able  to  sustain  by  proofs  which  the  word  of 
God  gives  me. 

It  has  been  said,  and  more  than  once  repeated,  that 
the  prophecy  of  this  book  ends  with  the  eighteenth 
verse  of  the  eleventh  chapter,  but  in  this  statement  I 
am  not  singular  for  most  futurists  accept  this  as  the 
proper  division  of  the  book,  j^et  strange  to  say,  all,  so 
far  as  I  know,  look  upon  the  outpouring  of  the  vials  as 
a  further  and  distinct  series  of  judgments.  Now  both 
these  views  cannot  be  correct  because  of  their  conflic- 
tion.  If  the  former  is  abandoned  then  the  lyord  God 
Almighty  has  not  taken  His  great  power  to  reign  ;  the 
judgment  of  the  dead  has  not  taken  place  ;  nor  have 
the  servants  been  rewarded.  If  the  latter  is  the  true 
interpretation,  then  it  is  evident  that  there  is  no  break 
in  the  continuity  of  the  visions. 

The  remarkable  similarity  in  the  effects  produced 
by  the  trumpet  sounds  and  the  vials  outpoured,  not  in 
.'ome,  but  in  all,  would  be  apparent  even  in  cursory 


A  DISSERTATION  THEREON.  1 63 

reading,  but  the  differences  are  also  remarkable  because 
while  on  the  one  hand  there  is  internal  evidence  of 
radical  agreement,,  there  are  the  variations  which 
indicate  a  more  extended  or  different  sphere  of 
action  in  the  latter  than  in  the  former.  That  is  to  say, 
when  the  history  of  the  final  judgments  upon  the 
roman  earth  is  recorded,  it  is  seen  that  the  producing 
cause  is  a  call  which  should  command  attention,  inas- 
much as  it  is  addressed  to  that  part  of  the  world  which 
is  professedly  in  relation  with  heaven,  but  as  to 
distant  lands  and  heathen  countries  where  Christ  is 
unknown,  a  silent  operation  upon  the  atmosphere  sets 
in  motion  the  operating  causes  in  a  more  extended 
sphere. 

The  trumpet  judgments  as  we  have  seen  are  made 
up  of  two  distinct  series,  the  first  of  four  and  the  last 
of  three,  and  all  of  the  first  four  are  circumscribed  in 
their  effects,  or  rather  while  their  action  is  of  unlimited 
range,  the  Spirit  of  God  is  only  occupied  in  that 
connection  with  the  effect  upon  the  roman  earth,  or  as 
expressed,  the  third  part.  The  fifth  trumpet  which 
opens  the  pit  of  the  abyss  and  releases  the  demons  is 
necessarily  without  restriction,  as  the  effects  are  at  once 
upon  the  air  and  not  upon  the  earth,  but  the  ampli- 
fication of  it  when  taken  in  connection  with  the  other 
trumpets  show  us  more  particularly  that  part  of  the 


164  THE  APOCALYPSE. 

earth  upon  which  the  trumpet  judgments  act.  The 
second  woe  trumpet  is  of  more  limited  application  than 
the  corresponding  vial,  and  the  last  in  each  is  the  close, 
which  must  be  practically  the  same  in  either  case. 

But  to  return  to  our  chapter.  The  wrath  of  God 
is  coming  upon  the  world  to  the  uttermost,  but  in 
perfect  righteousness.  Not  only  are  the  executors  of 
it  clothed  in  white  linen,  but  they  are  also  girded  with 
golden  girdles.  Outwardly  all  may  be  conscious  of  the 
holiness  of  divine  actings,  but  besides,  the  actors  are 
themselves  righteously  sustained  in  holy  love  for  the 
One  whose  glory  they  are  about  to  maintain  in  right- 
eous judgments  ;  and  if  the  immediate  agents  are  but 
angelic,  the  direction  to  them  and  the  over  guidance  is 
cherubic.  But  there  is  more,  there  is  the  manifest 
presence  of  God  Himself,  and  further,  the  angels  issue 
from  that  very  presence  with  their  awful  commission. 
When  in  a  previous  chapter  we  saw  the  temple  opened 
in  heaven,  the  ark  of  the  covenant  was  there,  pledge 
of  God's  faithful  promises  to  Israel,  for  then  the 
Spirit  of  God  was  directing  the  prophet's  gaze  to  that 
part  of  the  world  where  the  judgments  had  a  trumpet 
character  and  where  the  godly  Jewish  remnant  was 
surrounded  by  the  awful  scenes  which  were  transpiring, 
and  the  sight  of  the  ark  of  the  covenant  would  sustain 
their  hearts. 


A  DISSERTATION   THEREON.  1 65 


CHAPTER   XVI. 


But  now  a  voice  of  authority  sends  forth  these 
mighty  powers,  their  actings  begin  at  once,  and  the 
results  are  tremendous.  The  first  vial  was  poured  out 
on  the  earth,  and  the  effect  was  universal,  not  as  with 
the  first  trumpet  affecting  a  third  part  merely,  but  on 
all  everywhere  who  did  homage  to  the  beast  and  bore 
his  mark.  Both  however  have  reference  to  the 
plagues  of  Egypt,  which,  real  as  they  were,  are  yet 
among  the  ' '  all  those  things ' '  which  ' '  happened  to 
them  for  types  and  are  written  for  our  admonition." 
It  will  be  seen  that  the  trumpet  woe  corresponds  to  the 
seventh  egyptian  plague  in  so  far  as  the  sphere  of  its 
action  goes,  and  with  the  terrible  addition  of  blood, 
but  when  we  come  to  the  same  period  in  the  vial 
aspect  we  have  the  fulfilment  of  the  closing  part  of  the 
figure  of  the  plague  :  "  Only  in  the  land  of  Goshen, 
where  the  children  of  Israel  were,  was  there  no  hail. ' ' 
The  line  of  demarkation  has  now  been  drawn ;  the 
beast-worshippers  have  been  marked  ;  the  servants  of 
God  have  been  sealed  in  their  foreheads,  and  the  begin- 


1 66  THE  APOCALYPSE. 

ning  of  the  final  judgments  which  inflicts  an  evil  and 
grievous  sore,  inflicts  it  upon  the  marked  beast- 
worshippers  only.  There  was  no  such  thing  under  the 
first  trumpet  simply  because  the  Spirit  of  God  did  not 
present  either  of  the  beasts  until  after  the  main  record  had 
been  completed,  and  further,  because  it  was  in  keeping 
with  the  vial  and  not  with  the  trumpet  judgments. 
Chrouologicalh'  the  trumpet  and  vial  judgments  appear 
to  begin  to  run  their  course  immediately  after  the 
great  events  which  transpire  in  tlie  middle  of  the  week 
and  are  the  consequence  of  them,  because  of  the  com- 
plete and  irrevocable  identification  of  the  earth-dwellers 
with  the  blasphemer  of  God  by  receiving  his  mark.  Up 
to  this  time  the  silent  breaking  of  the  seals  in  provi- 
dential judgments  had  made  no  discrimination  between 
persons,  but  when  sides  are  finally  taken,  and  evilly 
disposed  subjects,  who  have  been  warned  of  the  con- 
sequences, put  on  the  uniform  of  the  revolting  leader, 
the  rightful  sovereign  can  have  nothing  but  punish- 
ment for  the  rebels  when  the  rebellion  has  been 
suppressed. 

The  silence  in  heaven  was  ominous  ;  the  casting 
to  the  earth  of  the  burning  censer,  the  Lord's  reply  to 
the  infamous  trio  now  so  busily  occupied  in  marshall- 
ing for  a  final  and  awful  conflict  their  rebellious  hosts, 
was  fearfully  impressive  ;  and  the  effect  of  the  action 


A  DISSERTATION  THEREON.  167 

considering  the  Divine  Actor,  the  instrument,  the 
connection,  and  the  resulting  effects,  was  such,  that 
only  those  blinded  of  Satan  could  be  indifferent  to,  or 
unconscious  of,  the  impending  great  tribulation. 

We  have  seen  that  the  first  trumpet  and  the  first 
vial  are  effective  in  the  same  sphere,  that  is  to  say 
the  earth,  although  not  conterminate  ;  furthermore,  is  it 
not  evident  that  the  result  of  the  angelic  action  in  each 
case  is  during  the  same  period,  because  the  trumpets 
are  not  blown  until  the  saints  of  God  are  sealed,  but 
the  sealing  is  the  Lord's  response  to  the  marking  of 
the  beast,  and  this  takes  place  at  that  momentous 
epoch  so  often  spoken  of,  the  middle  of  the  week,  when 
the  beast  has  the  power  given  him  to  make  war  on  the 
saints.  The  first  vial  produces  a  noisome  and  grievous 
sore  upon  those  who  had  the  mark  of  the  beast  and 
worshipped  his  image,  so  that  from  either  aspect  we 
see  the  agreement,  and  the  conclusion  is  inevitable, 
that  the  vial  comprehends  the  trumpet. 

The  power  given  to  the  beast  to  make  war  on  the 
saints  and  to  overcome  them  after  the  period  of  his 
course  has  been  assigned,  produces  the  second  crop  of 
martyrs  ;  the  persecution  under  the  professing  church 
had  produced  the  first,  both  of  whom  as  hereinbefore 
shown  have  part  in  the  first  resurrection. 


1 68  THE  APOCALYPSE. 

It  is  not  difficult  to  understand  that  the  effort 
made  by  a  man  of  inflexible  determination,  having 
supreme  and  irresistible  power,  to  weld  communities 
into  a  common  religion  would  not  be  stayed  by  any 
merciful  considerations,  but  must,  if  to  be  at  all 
successful,  crush  unmercifully  every  opponent ;  yet  the 
thought  of  the  professing  church  of  God  becoming 
again  a  bitter  persecutor,  many  will  have  a  difficulty  in 
accepting.  Have  not  the  days  of  the  inquisition 
paSvSed  away  forever  ?  Could  anyone  suppose  that  the 
massacre  of  St.  Bartholomew  could  be  repeated  ?  Alas 
for  the  credulity  that  believes  a  hell-inspired  institu- 
tion may  reverse  its  nature.  Can  the  ethiopian  change 
his  skin,  or  the  leopard  his  spots  ? 

The  second  angel  empties  his  bowl  on  the  sea,  and 
it  became  blood  as  of  one  dead,  and  every  living  soul 
died — those  in  the  sea.  If  the  first  was  emptied  on 
the  land  where  a  stable  and  ordered  state  of  things 
seemed  to  exist,  the  second  was  on  another  sphere,  a 
troubled  and  agitated  one,  and  ever)-^  living  soul 
therein  died.  I  apprehend  that  death  here  is  not 
physical  death  but  a  severance  of  all  professed  relation- 
ship with  God.  In  the  corresponding  trumpet 
judgment  the  eflFect  upon  the  roman  earth  only  was 
recorded,  but  there  a  third  part  of  the  ships  also  was 
vlestroyed — intercommunication    restricted — but    also, 


A  DISSERTATION  THEREON.  1 69 

we  are  there  given  the  producing  cause,  the  casting  of 
a  burning  mountain  into  the  sea.  There  had  been  in 
a  way  an  acknowledgment  of  God,  but  the  casting 
down  of  that  which  had  so  greatly  exalted  itself, 
which  became  a  burnt  mountain,  that  apparentl)^ 
fixed  and  immovable  institution  known  as  Babylon, 
produced  the  baneful  effects  here  recorded.  Doubtless 
the  profession  had  no  value  in  the  sight  of  God,  yet 
while  it  was  not  openly  and  avowedly  hostile,  there 
was  the  semblance  of  life,  which  ceased  when  the 
beast  was  accepted  and  worshipped  as  God. 

' '  The  third  poured  out  his  vial  on  the  rivers  and 
fountains  of  waters ;  and  they  became  blood. ' '  In  the 
succeeding  chapter,  waters  are  explained  as  meaning 
peoples,  and  multitudes,  and  nations,  and  tongues. 
Rivers  are  restrained  and  have  their  course  directed  by 
their  banks,  unlike  the  sea,  which,  restless  and  un- 
restrained casts  up  mire  and  dirt.  Thus  the  pouring 
out  of  the  vials  affects  successively  the  different  com- 
munities into  which  the  inhabiters  of  the  earth  have 
been  formed,  whether  near  or  remote  ;  whether  fixed 
and  established,  or  in  unrest,  or  subject  to  guiding  and 
controlling  principles  ;  all  these  rebels  have  to  be 
broken  upon  the  wheel  of  a  righteous  God's  relentless 
judgments. 

It  was  under  the  third   trumpet   that   the  star 


170  THE  APOCALYPSE. 

Wormwood  fell  upon  the  third  part  of  the  rivers  and 
fountains  of  waters,  and  they  became  wormwood  so 
that  many  died  from  the  bitterness  of  the  waters.  If 
the  fall  of  this  dignitary  produced  a  moral  death 
among  those  peoples  who  were  under  the  control  of 
the  roman  power,  those  beyond  its  influence  found 
something  more  than  bitterness,  they  found  blood. 
There  was  apparently  with  these  less  readiness  to 
accept  the  new  cult,  but  God  was  over  it  ;  they  had 
shed  the  blood  of  saints  and  prophets,  and  now  the 
self-existent,  the  Holy  One,  righteously  ordered  that 
they  should  have  blood  to  drink.  The  angel  of  the 
waters  speaks,  and  the  altar  replies  !  what  an  astonish- 
ing colloquy  ! 

When  the  fifth  seal  was  opened  we  were  shown  a 
martyred  company  in  connection  with  the  altar,  an 
intimation  that  God's  silence  as  to  what  was  transpir- 
ing was  not  indifference ;  subsequently  the  burning 
censer  charged  with  fire  from  off  the  altar,  when  cast 
down  to  the  earth  gave  warning  of  God's  wrath  now 
ready  to  break  forth  upon  His  adversaries  ;  and  finally, 
how  fitting  that  the  place  where  God's  judgment  of 
sin  was  expressed  in  the  consuming  fire  upon  the 
sacrifice  ;  a  sacrifice  which  in  the  anti-type  was  of  such 
value  that  all  who  by  faith  were  identified  with  it 
were    safe    from   the  avenging  angel's  sword ;   how 


A  DISSERTATION  THIi;RE;ON.  171 

fitting  I  say,  that  this  altar  whose  sacrifice  was  despised 
and  rejected  should  testify  against  the  despisers  and 
rejecters.  "  I  tell  you,"  said  the  blessed  L^ord  on  one 
occasion,  "that,  if  these  should  hold  their  peace,  the 
stones  would  immediately  cry  out. ' ' 

The  fourth  trumpet  and  the  fourth  vial  have  the 
same  sphere  of  action  in  part,  yet  the  former  exceeds 
in  number  of  objects  acted  upon,  while  the  latter  shows 
a  greater  intensity  of  effect  in  the  results.  This 
may  at  first  thought  seem  to  be  a  departure  from  the 
order  we  have  seen  in  the  previous  comparisons,  but  it 
is  not  so.  The  sun,  that  great  orb  of  light  and  heat, 
is  said  to  rule  the  day,  it  is  the  supreme  luminary  in 
this  lower  world,  and  thus  used  figuratively  in  scripture 
for  the  highest  governing  power.  On  the  sounding  of 
the  trumpet,  not  only  was  it  obscured,  but  the  lesser 
lights  were  also,  so  that  the  rulers  in  the  roman  earth 
were  in  a  moral  darkness  that  prevented  them  from 
seeing  clearly  the  effect  of  the  very  acts  in  which  the}'' 
were  engaged,  but  when  on  the  other  hand  we  see  the 
effect  of  the  vial,  it  is  not  upon  the  rulers  that  we  see 
it,  but  upon  the  ruled. 

Whatever  the  roman  emperor  may  do  at  this  junc- 
ture to  produce  such  a  result  as  that  people  should  be 
scorched  with  a  great  heat  and  curse  God,  which  many 
are  so  ready  even  now  to  do,  can  only  be  conjectured,. 


172  THE  APOCALYPSE. 

but  that  the  power  of  God  is  displaj-ed  in  it  is  evident, 
for  He  is  the  one  who  has  authority  over  these  plagues 
and  is  able  to  direct  the  very  forces  opposed  to  Him 
into  the  execution  of  His  righteous  judgments  upon 
opposers. 

How  insensate  that  a  mere  creature  should  think 
to  prevail  against  its  Cxcator  !  Frailty  that  succumbs 
under  more  than  the  most  ordinary  pressure :  an 
existence  which,  even  the  most  prolonged,  is  but  as 
a  moment  compared  with  eternity  :  a  body,  fitted 
indeed  with  elaborate  and  complicated  machinery 
which  is  only  kept  in  operation  by  an  indwelling  and 
pervading  principle  called  life,  and  when  this  animating 
power  is  withdrawn  by  the  One  v/ho  implanted  it  no 
other  power  could  set  in  motion  for  an  instant  a  single 
one  of  the  functions  before  exercised  by  the  now 
defunct  body  ;  and  yet  while  all  this  is  so  self-evident 
as  to  be  axiomatic,  we  see  everywhere,  even  now,  a 
hostility  against  God  which  will  presently  take  form 
in  open  and  avowed  rebellion.  And  how  strange  it  all 
is.  On  every  side  we  see  the  works  of  a  beneficent 
Creator  :  elements  that  singly  or  in  combination  are 
perfectly  adapted  to  the  purposes  for  which  they  were 
made  :  organisms  innumerable  that  exist  and  develop 
under  a  condition  of  things  that  only  infinite  wisdom 
could  have  ordered,  and  often  the  elimination  of  but 


A  DISSERTATION  THERKON.  17-^, 

one  factor  in  the  animating  and  propelling  forces 
would  be  destruction  :  a  vast  number  of  influences 
abroad  that  undirected  or  misdirected  would  throw 
everything  into  confusion,  and  yet  all  this  creation, 
with  its  involved,  its  intricate,  its  often  incomprehen- 
sible laws  of  government  goes  on  age  after  age  until 
its  purposes  of  creation  have  been  completed  and  then 
it  will  be  folded  up  as  a  vesture  and  laid  aside. 

When  we  were  considering  the  trumpet  judo-- 
ments,  it  was  seen  that  the  last  three,  or  woe  trumpets, 
had  not  the  limited  range  that  the  previous  ones  had, 
it  was  not  the  third  part,  we  can  therefore  turn  back  to 
these  for  fuller  light  on  the  last  vials  and  find  an 
exposition  which  the  latter  does  not  give. 

The  fifth  bowl  poured  upon  the  throne  of  the 
beast  does  not  merely  produce  obscurity,  the  kingdom 
is  full  of  darkness,  they  gnawed  their  tongues  for 
distress,  blasphemed  the  God  of  heaven,  and  repented 
not.  What  an  awful  terseness  there  is  in  these  few 
words.  It  is  an  evident  advance  upon  the  previous 
judgment,  great  as  that  one  was,  and  the  effect  was 
not  merely  blasphemy  against  the  "name  of  God," 
but  against  the  "  God  of  heaven." 

The  darkness  and  the  distress  are  the  result  of  the 
irruption  of  demons  from  the  abyss,  heretofore  kept  in 
durance,  but  now  for  a  season  permitted  to  exercise 
their  infernal  office  of  inflicting  torment. 


174  THE  APOCALYPSE. 

The  pouring  out  of  the  sixth  vial  upon  the  great 
river  Euphrates  dries  up  the  river  that  the  way  of  the 
kings  from  the  sun-rising  maj'  be  prepared.  This  is  a 
remarkable  sentence,  and  the  question  at  once  arises 
whether  it  is  to  be  taken  literally  or  figuratively.  The 
corresponding  trumpet  set  in  motion  the  vast  armies 
which  we  find  in  this  vial  are  being  gathered  together 
to  the  war  of  that  great  day  of  God  Almighty  ;  but 
was  it  for  these,  the  enemies  of  God,  that  the  great 
river  was  made  to  yield  a  passage  ?  The  waters  in  the 
past  have  overwhelmed  such.  Was  it  then,  that 
prophetic  boundaries  were  now  being  obliterated? 
The  effects  of  the  first  vial  were  world-wide. 

The  efforts  to  find  the  ten  tribes,  which  were  car- 
ried away  captive  by  Sennacherib  and  his  predecessors, 
in  the  present  nations  of  Europe,  and  the  fanc}^  of  an 
Anglo-Israel,  is  all  the  merest  dream  of  diseased  minds. 
The  deported  tribes  were  planted  in  Halah,  Habor, 
Hara,  and  by  the  river  Gozan,  and  they  never  returned. 
Tlieir  Jewish  brethren  who  were  brought  into  captivity 
more  than  a  hundred  j-ears  later,  did  in  part  return 
after  their  seventy  years  of  bondage  had  expired,  but 
the  ten  tribes  still  await  the  call  of  God  when  He  will 
bring  them  into  the  wilderness,  and  plead  with  them 
there,  and  purge  out  the  rebels.  This  ancient  people 
of  God  were  taken  away  into  the  central  parts  of  Asia 


A  DISSERTATION  THEREON.  1 75 

more  than  twenty  six  hundred  years  ago  ;  and,  as  the 
word  of  God  tells  us,  they  are  to  be  brought  back 
again  ;  where  are  they  now  ?  Surely  not  in  some 
subterranean  hiding  place,  and  if  not,  they  must  be 
sought  for  in  existing  and  known  races  of  people. 

It  will  no  doubt  be  a  great  surprise  to  find  in  well 
known  asiatic  races,  the  lost  tribes  of  Israel,  but  the 
remarkable  israelitish  cast  of  features  borne  by 
inhabitants  of  countries  contiguous  to  those  parts  where 
this  people  were  planted  so  many  centuries  ago  is  an 
indication  that  when  the  call  of  God  is  heard  there  are 
those  who  will  respond  other  than  the  people  of  Gog  or 
of  the  fourth  monarchy. 

A  few  years  ago  a  traveller  in  the  east  questioned 
a  company  of  horsemen  whom  he  met  as  to  their  race 
and  origin.  "  We  are,"  said  the  leader,  "  children  of 
Jonadab  the  son  of  Rechab,  of  whom  Jehovah  of  hosts 
the  God  of  Israel  said  :  '  Jonadab  the  son  of  Rechab 
shall  not  want  a  man  to  stand  before  me  forever. '  ' ' 
And  more  recently  a  company  of  people  have  appeared 
in  Judea  who  claim  to  be  of  the  tribe  of  Dan. 

When  God  brought  His  people  out  of  Egypt  He 
made  a  passage  for  them  through  the  Red  sea,  when 
He  brought  them  into  the  land,  the  deep  and  rapidly 
flowing  waters  of  Jordan  were  suddenly  stayed  by 
divine  power  until  they  rose  up  upon  an  heap,  and 


176  I^HK  APOCALYPSE. 

what  more  consistent  with  these  marvellous  actings  of 
old  than  that  the  river  which  excludes  them  from  their 
millenial  possessions  should,  by  the  same  power,  be 
commanded  to  cease  its  flow  that  the  way  of  the  kings 
of  the  east  might  be  prepared.  It  must  be  borne  in 
mind  that  it  is  the  Euphrates  and  not  the  Jordan  which, 
in  the  coming  age,  is  the  eastern  boundary  of  the 
enlarged  area  the  I,ord  will  reserve  for  His  people. 

The  Spirit  of  God  turns  now  from  observing  the 
kings  of  the  east  and  gives  the  prophet  to  see  three 
unclean  spirits  like  frogs  coming  out  of  the  mouth  of 
the  dragon,  out  of  the  mouth  of  the  beast,  and  out  of 
the  mouth  of  the  false  prophet  ;  spirits  of  demons, 
doing  signs  before  the  kings  of  the  habitable  world  to 
gather  them  together  to  that  great  battle  on  the  hill  of 
Megiddo.  In  the  corresponding  trumpet  judgment, 
three  plagues,  which  were  limited  in  their  effects,  went 
out  of  the  mouths  of  the  horses  and  were  fatal  in  the 
sphere  of  their  action.  These  three  plagues  were  said 
to  be  fire  and  smoke  and  brimstone.  Thus  we  see  that 
these,  by  which  men  were  killed,  were  three  unclean 
spirits,  and  while  they  were  allowed  to  do  deeds  that 
seemed,  and  perhaps  were,  superhuman,  the  moral 
ejffect  left  behind  them,  was  fire  and  smoke  and  brim- 
stone. The  first  and  the  last  taken  together  express 
the  sulphurous  emission  from  the  opened  pit,  and  that 


A  DISSERTATION  THEREON.  1 77 

which  comes  in  between,  the  obscuring  effect  of  the 
others.  It  was  manifestly  hellish  to  any  whose  moral 
perceptions  were  not  darkened,  but  the  obscuring 
effect  of  the  smoke  prevented  the  kings  of  the  habitable 
world  from  discovering  that  the  signs  wrought  were 
demoniacal,  and  the  result  was  that  they  joined  the 
coalition.  "The  kings  of  the  earth  set  themselves, 
and  the  rulers  take  counsel  together  against  Jehovah 
and  against  His  anointed. ' '  But  the  Lord  holds  them 
in  derision.  No  shaft  forged  against  Him  can  prosper. 
The  plain  of  Esdraelon  becomes  again  the  scene  of 
great  events.  It  has  been  historical  ground  since  the 
dawn  of  history.  The  kings  of  Canaan  fought  there 
against  Barak  and  the  hosts  of  Jehovah,  but  the  stars 
in  their  courses  fought  against  Sisera. 

Whether  He  gathered  them,  or  they  gathered 
them,  matters  not ;  God  is  over  all  whatever  instru- 
mentalities He  may  please  to  use.  ' '  And  this  shall  be 
the  plague  wherewith  Jehovah  will  smite  all  the 
peoples  that  have  fought  against  Jerusalem  ;  their 
flesh  shall  consume  away  while  they  stand  upon  their 
feet,  and  their  eyes  shall  consume  away  in  their  holes' 
and  their  tongue  shall  consume  away  in  their  mouth. 
And  it  shall  come  to  pass  in  that  day,  that  a  great 
tumult  from  Jehovah  shall  be  among  them  ;  and  they 
shall  lay  hold  everyone  on  the  hand  of  his  neighbor, 


178  THE  APOCALYPSE. 

and  his  hand  shall  rise  up  against  the  hand  of  his 
neighbor. ' ' 

But  the  end  is  approaching.  The  Lord  is  about 
to  come  again,  and  to  those  who  are  not  expecting 
Him  it  will  be  as  a  thief.  It  will  not  be  so  to  those 
who  are  watching,  to  such  He  can  never  come  at  an 
unloosed  for  moment,  j'^et  there  may  have  been  a 
growing  conformit}'  to  things  around,  imperceptible 
but  advancing,  that  needs  the  word  of  caution  and 
encouragement.  Let  those  look  to  their  deportment, 
if  it  is  such  that  their  garment  is  taken  away  there 
will  be  nakedness  and  consequent  shame. 

At  last  the  seventh  bowl  is  emptied  and  in  the 
air,  and  there  came  a  great  voice  out  of  the  temple  of 
heaven,  from  the  throne  saying,  "  It  is  done."  Unless 
there  can  be  two  culminating  periods,  two  distinct 
epochs  at  which  a  crisis  in  these  great  events  is 
reached,  this  must  be  the  same  point  of  time  when 
the  great  voices  were  heard  in  heaven  saying  :  '  *  The 
world  kingdom  of  our  Lord  and  of  His  Christ  is 
come  ";  the  sounding  of  the  seventh  trumpet. 

When  we  hear  of  the  great  voice  from  the  throne 
of  God  saying,  "It  is  done,"  our  thoughts  go  back 
insensiblj'  to  the  time  of  another  loud  cry  from  the 
same  lips,  nineteen  centuries  before,  saying,  "It  is 
finished."     How  great  the  contrast  !     Then,  God  had 


A  DISSERTATION  THKRKON.  1 79 

come  down  to  man  in  the  person  of  His  Son  for  the 
accomplishment  of  a  work  of  grace  of  such  magnitude, 
that  as  we  survey  it,  the  mind  is  well  nigh  overwhelmed 
with  a  sense  of  its  grandeur  ;  of  such  wisdom,  so 
profound,  so  infinite ;  of  such  love,  so  far  beyond 
human  comprehension,  that  the  soul  which  has  been 
absorbed  by  it,  rests  with  ineffable  delight  in  that 
which  the  mind  cannot  fathom,  but  which  is  made 
good  to  faith. 

Then  there  was  no  power  put  forth  in  judgment ; 
no  imputation  of  trespasses.  That  was  the  day  for 
binding  up  the  broken-hearted  ;  the  day  of  the  pro- 
clamation of  the  acceptable  year  of  Jehovah.  The 
blessed  Son  of  God,  full  of  grace  and  truth,  came 
among  His  fallen  creatures  bearing  a  yoke ;  what  a 
sight  !  If  on  the  one  hand  His  meekness  and  lowliness 
excited  the  scorn  and  contempt  of  the  proud,  on  the 
other  it  was  an  irresistible  attraction  to  the  poor  and 
afflicted.  But  that  life  of  unselfishness  and  unswerv- 
ing devotion  to  God  terminated  at  a  cross  of  shame. 
The  only  perfect  Man  this  world  had  ever  seen  was 
crucified  between  two  thieves.  The  incarnate  Creator 
of  all  things  allowed  His  wicked  creatures  to  do  their 
will  upon  Him,  and  no  power  was  put  forth  for  their 
deserved  destruction.  "Father  forgive  them  for  they 
know  not  what  they  do,"  was  the  response  to  the 
hatred  His  love  had  evoked. 


l8o  THE  APOCALYPSE. 

True,  the  Son  of  God  has  been  crucified,  but  we 
would  have  been  no  parties  to  it  had  we  been  there  ; 
we  surely  can  have  no  responsibility  for  an  act  com- 
mitted so  many  centuries  before  we  were  born,  and 
which  we  repudiate.  "Woe  unto  you,  scribes  and 
Pharisees,  hypocrites  !  because  ye  build  the  tombs  of 
the  prophets,  and  garnish  the  sepulchres  of  the 
righteous,  and  sa}^  '  If  we  had  been  in  the  days  of 
our  fathers,  we  would  not  have  been  partakers  with 
them  in  the  blood  of  the  prophets.'  Wherefore  ye  be 
witnesses  unto  j'ourselves,  that  3'e  are  the  children  of 
them  which  killed  the  prophets.  Fill  ye  up  then  the 
measure  of  your  fathers. ' ' 

Nineteen  centuries  have  run  their  course  and  for 
all  these  years  the  sun  has  looked  down  upon  a  blood- 
stained scene  ;  upon  an  unrepentant  race.  What  value 
is  repudiation  of  an  act  if  there  is  identification  with 
the  actors.  Even  the  common  law  of  the  land  fixes 
guilt  upon  the  accessory  after  a  fact,  and  if  I  am 
identified  with  the  wicked  murderers  of  the  Lord  Jesus 
I  am  guilty  of  His  blood.  The  word  now  as  of  old  is  : 
"  Save  yourselves  from  this  untoward  generation." 

On  the  completion  of  the  work  of  expiation  Jesus 
said:  "It  is  finished."  This  voice  proceeded  from 
the  cross.  When  the  moment  of  the  termination  of 
His  long-suffering  patience    and    grace  had  arrived 


A  DISSERTATION  THEREON.  l8l 

*'  there  came  a  great  voice  out  of  the  temple  of  heaven, 
from  the  throne,  saying,  It  is  done." 

The  sounding  of  the  seventh  trumpet  had  given 
us  to  see  the  effect  of  it  upon  the  translated  church, 
which  had,  while  on  earth,  been  in  the  midst  of  the 
iniquity  which  the  very  perpetrators  had  charged  God 
wdth  unrighteousness  in  allowing.  How  was  it  that 
God  permitted  His  arch-enemy  to  be  abroad?  How 
was  it  that  God  allowed  His  creatures  to  curse  Him  to 
His  face,  after  having  crucified  His  Son  ?  How  was  it 
that  wicked  men  and  seducers  should  w^ax  worse  and 
worse  deceiving  and  being  deceived  ?  A  righteous  and 
a  holy  God  had  endured  with  much  long  suffering  a 
state  of  things  abhorrent  to  Him.  It  was  indeed  a 
mystery  :  but  the  reason  was  now  to  be  disclosed. 

The  pouring  out  of  the  seventh  vial  was  upon  the 
air ;  the  effect  was  universal ;  voices  in  heaven ; 
thunders  and  lightnings  in  the  air ;  an  earthquake  of 
unprecedented  violence  upon  the  earth,  were  sufficient 
to  appal  the  stoutest  heart,  but  there  was  more,  "the 
great  city  was  divided  into  three  parts,  and  the  cities 
of  the  nations  fell ;  and  great  Babylon  came  in  remem- 
brance before  God,  to  give  unto  her  the  cup  of  the  wine 
of  the  fierceness  of  His  wrath.  And  every  island  fled, 
and  the  mountains  were  not  found.  And  there  fell 
upon  men  a  great  hail  out  of  heaven. ' ' 


1 82  THE  APOCALYPSE. 

It  will  be  remembered  that  it  was  at  the  beginning 
of  the  sounding  of  the  seventh  trumpet  that  the 
mystery  of  God  was  finished,  and  that  when  it  had 
sounded,  voices  in  heaven  proclaimed  that  the  world 
kingdom  of  our  I^ord  and  of  His  Christ  had  come,  and 
for  the  third  time  the  elders  leave  their  thrones  to  fall 
down  on  their  faces  and  worship.  In  the  fourth 
chapter  the  glory  of  the  Creator  had  incited  to  this,  in 
the  fifth  chapter  it  was  redemptorial  glory,  while  here 
it  is  the  glory  of  the  Son  of  man,  the  One  under  whom 
all  things  are  now  subjected.  The  great  and  dreadful 
day  of  Jehovah  of  which  Malachi  had  prophesied,  in 
the  closing  words  of  old  testament  inspiration,  now 
find  their  fulfilment  ;  the  Lord  Jesus  descends  to  the 
earth  with  a  vast  company  of  heavenly  beings,  and  a 
final  and  absolute  cleansing  out  of  His  kingdom  is 
made  of  all  things  that  offend,  and  them  which  do 
iniquity,  in  order  to  the  casting  of  them  into  a 
furnace  of  fire  where  is  wailing  and  gnashing  of  teeth. 

Hitherto  fearful  scenes  had  been  witnessed  ; 
alarming  sounds  had  been  heard  ;  men's  hearts  had 
failed  them  for  fear  ;  vast  numbers  had  lost  their  lives  ; 
yet  amid  it  all  there  remained  the  mass  of  the  earth- 
dwellers  to  rejoice  over  the  .slain  witnesses,  and  to  take 
unbounded  satisfaction  in  the  thought  that  their 
troubles  were  now  past,  .since  the  ones  who  troubled 


A  DISSERTATION  THEREON.  183 

them  were  dead.     Their  rejoicing  is  of  brief  duration  ; 
"the  Judge  standeth  before  the  door."     When  the 
Saviour  was  upon  the  cross  a  funereal  pall  was  cast 
upon  the  face  of  nature,  hiding  the  holy  Victim  in  His 
dying  agony  from  the  heartless  gaze  of  callous  men, 
those   who  responded  to  the  look    for  pity    and  for 
comforters  by  shooting  out  the  lip  and  laughing  Him 
to    scorn ;   moreover,    when  the  Lord  dismissed   His 
Spirit,  the  earth  dia  quake,  the  rocks  were  rent  and 
graves  were  opened.     When  He  comes  again  to  the 
earth    even    inanimate   nature  will    respond    to   His 
presence ;  a  mountain  will   be   split    to   its  base,  and 
the  riven  parts  open  out  to  form  a  great  valley  ;  the 
mountainous  region  in  which  His  city,  the  city  of  the 
great  King  is  situated,  will  change  its  character,  be 
hfted  up,  and  become  a  plateau  ;  the  Dead  sea  will  be 
filled  up  and  sweetened  ;  the  delta  of  the  Nile  will  be 
dried  up,  and  the  tongue  of  the  Egyptian  sea,  evidently 
the  Suez  canal  will  be  destroyed  ;  but  beyond  this. 
His  enemies,  who  had  declared  they  would  not  have 
Him  to  reign  over  them,  are  slain  before  Him ;  it  is 
the  day  of  God's  vengeance  ;  of  His  strange  work,  and 
He  will  cut  it  short  in  righteousness. 

The  division  of  the  great  city  into  three  parts ;  the 
fall  of  the  cities  of  the  nations  ;  and  God's  wrath  upon 
Babylon,  is  the  briefest  possible  epitome  of  very  great 


l84  THE  APOCALYPSE. 

events,  comprising  in  the  first  and  third  parts  the 
judgment  upon  Rome  in  its  civil  and  ecclesiastical 
aspects,  and  in  the  second  her  related  communities. 
As  however  we  shall  presently  consider  these  judg- 
ments in  detail,  it  will  be  unnecessary  to  speak  of  the 
character  or  extent  of  them  here.  The  islands  flee, 
the  mountains  disappear.  Isolation  or  stability  are  of 
no  avail  as  God's  besom  of  destruction  sweeps  away 
every  refuge  of  lies. 


A  DISSERTATION  THEREON.  185 


CHAPTER  XVII. 


We  now  reach  a  part  of.  our  book  where  we  find 
an  amplification  not  seen  elsewhere  ;  events  which  we 
would  have  thought  the  most  important  of  any  have 
been  dismissed  with  a  paragraph  or  a  sentence,  and 
doubtless  what  will  have  transpired  beyond  the  bounds 
of  those  countries  with  which  the  Spirit  of  God  has 
been  occupied,  because  of  their  proximity  to  God's 
land  and  Gcd's  fi^le,  will  be  of  a  magnitude  and 
importance  from  the  human  standpoint,  as  great,  if 
not  greater,  than  those  occurring  in  the  prophetic 
earth  ;  yet  they  are  unnoticed,  while  the  downfall  of 
Babylon,  in  her  double  aspect,  is  presented  in  much 
detail  in  the  next  two  succeeding  chapters. 

If  we  are  to  learn  God's  ways,  if  we  are  to  be 
taught  in  His  school,  it  must  be  apart  from  this  world's 
glory,  and  this  world's  associations.  The  very  first 
thing  that  Cain's  offspring  did  was  to  build  a  city,  but 
when  God  took  up  the  cause  of  His  people  for  their 
redemption  He  led  them  out  of  all  relationship  with 
that  which  for    us    typifies  the    world,    and  into  a 


1 86  THE  APOCALYPSE. 

wilderness  where  there  were  no  resources  apart  from 
Himself,  that  their  judgment  might  be  formed,  and 
their  course  directed  by  principles  learned  under  His 
teaching  and  guidance. 

The  prophet  is  in  spirit  in  the  wilderness,  and  he 
had  been  told  that  he  was  to  see  there  an  infamous 
woman,  sitting  upon  many  waters  ;  that  is,  an  estab- 
lished relationship  with  the  many  nations,  a  relation- 
ship of  the  most  defiling  character  and  of  the  widest  ex- 
tent, embracing  both  rulers  and  ruled.  Her  corruptions 
would  in  any  case  have  been  destructive  of  every 
moral  principle  in  those  who  were  contaminated  by 
them,  but  when  she  is  seen  to  be  dominating  the  civil 
power,  and  sustained  by  it,  her  degrading  filthiness 
which  ministers  to  the  basest  sentiments  of  the  human 
heart,  acquires  the  overwhelming  influence  of  estab- 
lished and  irresistible  authority. 

When  we  speak  of  the  destruction  of  Babylon  we 
shall  have  to  distinguish  between  the  civil  or  roman 
power,  and  the  ecclesiastical  or  religious  aspect,  both  of 
which  are  spoken  of  in  these  chapters,  both  are  visited 
with  the  awful  judgments  of  God,  but  at  different 
times  and  in  different  manner.  We  have  had  previous 
intimations  of  these  judgments.  In  the  fourteenth 
chapter  of  our  book  is  the  first  reference  to  Babylon, 
and  there  it    is    evidently   the    religious  profession. 


A  DISSERTATION  THEREON.  187 

When  it  will  occur  to  the  roman  emperor  to  institute 
a  common  religion,  and  when  he  proceeds  to  put  his 
designs  into  execution  by  breaking  his  covenant  with 
the  jews,  the  first  step  must  be  the  suppression  of  all 
other  religions,  foremost  among  which  wnll  be  the 
professing  christian  church.  Here  was  that  which 
assumed  to  be  the  witness  for  Christ  upon  earth,  to  be 
the  bride  of  the  Lamb,  but  the  Spirit  of  God  tears 
away  the  mask  from  the  face  of  this  infamous  woman 
and  discloses  a  brazen  and  shameless  prostitute.  She 
had  assumed  much  ;  she  had  claimed  to  be  the  custodian 
of  God's  judgments  and  God's  favours  ;  she  had 
enslaved  her  votaries  in  the  bonds  of  superstition,  and 
then  debased  them  to  the  depths  of  a  spiritual  degrada- 
tion, both  abominable  and  filthy.  Some  she  anathe- 
matized ;  some  she  committed  to  the  unquenchable 
fires  of  hell,  and  some  she  admitted  into  the  paradise 
of  God.  Ornamented  with  gold  and  precious  stones 
and  pearls,  she  was  well  prepared  to  practice  the 
deceptions  which  entrapped  any  who  were  unable  to 
see  her  from  God's  point  of  vision,  the  wilderness. 

The  church  of  Rome  holds,  in  a  way,  every  truth 
contained  in  the  w^ord  of  God.  There  is  no  denial  of 
the  divinity  of  Christ,  nor  of  His  eternal  Sonship. 
The  work  of  the  cross,  its  value,  its  completeness,  and 
its  abiding  efficacy,  are  fully  admitted.     The  natural 


j88  the  apocalypse. 

depravity  of  the  human  heart  is  taught,  and  a  remedy 
provided.  She  is  adorned  with  gold  and  precious 
stones  and  pearls,  and  has  in  her  hand  a  golden  cup. 
How  attractive  all  this  is,  for  are  not  these  the  very 
symbols  of  the  precious  things  which  God  bestows? 
There  is  no  word  that  these  were  counterfeits  ;  there 
is  no,  "  as  it  were  ;"  but  now,  look  for  a  moment  into 
that  golden  cup,  and  what  is  seen  ?  It  is  full  of 
abominations  and  filthiness  of  her  fornication.  How 
awful  that  the  precious  things  of  God  should  be  made 
to  do  service  for  the  ornamentation  of  an  avowed 
courtesan  !  Is  it  any  wonder  that  the  sorest  judgments 
of  God  are  to  fall  upon  that  which  takes  up  the  holy 
name  of  Christ  and  His  unsearchable  riches  for  the 
basest  and  most  soul-defiling  purposes  ? 

The  divinity  of  Christ  is  stoutly  maintained.  He 
is  the  Son  of  God,  He  is  God,  could  j-ou  ask  more? 
but  the  woman  through  whom  He  received  His 
humanity  is  exalted  above  Him,  and  prayer  intercession 
and  thanksgiving  are  made  to  her  as  queen  of  heaven, 
instead  of  to  the  One  to  whom  every  knee  must  bow,  and 
ever}'  tongue  confess,  that  He  is  Lord.  Jesus  is  God, 
but  Mary  is  the  mother  of  God  ;  shocking  blasphemy. 

So  also  as  to  the  work  of  the  cross  ,  who  more 
insistent  upon  its  value.  Pictures  of  an  exposed  and 
bleeding  heart  are  to  be  seen  everywhere.     Images  and 


A  DISSERTATION  THEREON.  1 89 

pictures  of  an  expiring  Saviour  are  carried  or  uplifted 
as  objects  of  adoration,  but  if  the  worship  is  not  always 
to  the  S5^mbols,  if  it  should  pass  these,  it  is  intercepted, 
and  directed  to  the  one  who  herself  must  needs  have 
been  cleansed  by  that  precious  blood,  a  poor  sinner 
saved  by  grace. 

' '  I  believe  in  the  forgiveness  of  sins, "  is  a  credo 
which  is  taught  to  the  youngest  and  repeated  by  the 
oldest ;  but  how  is  this  forgiveness  obtained  ?  Do  you 
believe  that  Christ  died  for  our  sins  according  to  the 
scriptures  ?  Certainly  I  do.  Do  you  believe  that  the 
blood  of  Jesus  Christ  God's  Son  cleanseth  from  all  sin  ? 
Certainly  I  do.  How  then  is  the  death  of  Christ  and 
the  value  of  His  precious  blood  to  be  made  available 
for  the  sinner  ?  By  confession  of  sins,  and  by  absolu- 
tion for  them.  To  whom  is  confession  to  be  made, 
and  by  whom  is  absolution  granted?  The  priest. 
And  is  there  no  access  to  God  but  by  the  priesthood  ^ 
None  whatever.  Scripture  says,  hear  the  church,  and 
the  keys  of  the  kingdom  of  heaven  were  committed  to 
St.  Peter  and  his  successors,  therefore  it  is  written  : 
"Whose  soever  sins  ye  remit,  they  are  remitted  unto 
them ;  and  whose  soever  sins  ye  retain,  they  are 
retained." 

Thus  the  blessed  stream  of  grace  which  flows  from 
the  heart  of  God  down  to  the  graceless  children  of  men. 


190  THE  APOCALYPSE. 

is  turned  out  of  its  fructifying  channel,  and,  led  across 
the  barren  and  lifeless  sands  of  unregenerate  hearts, 
is  dissipated  and  completely  lost  in  the  Sahara  of 
roman  Catholicism. 

Her  name  is  written  upon  her  forehead  ;  how  is  it 
that  it  is  not  read?  Ah,  it  was  only  the  man  with 
whom  the  secret  of  God  was,  who  could  interpret  the 
meaning  of  the  writing  upon  the  plaistered  wall  of  the 
palace  at  Babylon,  and  now  again  it  is  only  the  one 
who  has  the  mind  of  the  Lord  who  can  understand  the 
true  character  of  that  soul-destroying  institution  by 
which  we  are  surrounded. 

Her  effrontery  is  amazing.  Assuming  to  be  the 
bride  of  Christ  she  claims  for  herself  not  only  a  heavenly 
origin,  but  a  holy  existence.  There  is  no  reason  in 
what  she  is  saying  ;  she  speaks  like  a  drunken  woman, 
as  indeed  she  is  one.  She  is  drunken  with  the  blood 
of  the  saints,  and  with  the  martyrs  of  Jesus.  Her's 
was  a  sinful  conception,  the  result  of  a  wicked  liaison, 
her's  has  been  an  iniquitous  existence,  and  her  end  will 
be  destruction.  Well  may  the  apostle  wonder  with  a 
great  wonderment  at  such  a  sight.  He  had  seen  the 
beginning  of  the  church  upon  earth  ;  the  power  and 
presence  of  the  Holy  Ghost ;  the  manifestation  of  the 
gifts  from  the  ascended  and  glorified  Head  ;  a  chaste 
virgin  with  clothing  of  wrought  gold  and  raiment  of 


A  DISSERTATION  THEREON.  I91 

needlework,  and  now  he  sees  a  drunken  prostitute, 
who  for  a  thousand  j^ears  and  more  persecuted  to  the 
death  the  saints  of  God,  and  not  onlj^  so,  the  ingenuity 
of  man  was  exhausted  in  the  invention  of  instruments 
of  torture  in  order  to  intensify  the  sufferings  of  faithful 
martyrs  of  Jesus,  members  of  the  body  of  Christ. 

Well,  here  is  an  exposition  of  the  mystery ;  the 
seven  headed  and  ten  horned  beast,  which  was  and  is 
not  and  shall  be  present,  ascends  out  of  the  bottomless 
pit  and  goes  into  perdition.  This  is  the  beast  which 
carries  the  woman  ;  and  not  only  are  there  seven  heads, 
there  are  also  seven  mountains  upon  which  she  sits, 
and  the  seven  heads  are  seven  mountains,  that  is,  the 
identification  between  the  locality  and  the  operating 
power  is  so  complete  that  confirmative  proof  is  un- 
necessary. The  seven  heads  are  seven  successive  forms 
of  government,  five  had  passed  away,  one  was  existing 
at  the  time  of  the  vision,  one,  of  brief  duration,  was  to 
follow,  and  finally  the  eighth  form,  satanic  in  origin  and 
in  operation,  is  consigned,  in  the  person  of  its  head  and 
representative  to  that  region  from  which  its  power 
had  been  derived,  and  to  the  company  of  that  wicked 
being  who,  unseen,  had  been  the  energy,  and  the  director 
of,  this  last  great  world  kingdom.  The  reign  of  the 
confederated  kings  of  this  federal  pact  is  a  brief  one, 
but  their  oneness  of  mind  in  their  hostility  to  Christ  in 


192  THK  APOCALYPSE. 

the  persons  of  His  saints  is  complete,  tlie  solidarite 
unbroken,  for  the  skilful  director  leads  them  captive 
at  his  will.  However  it  is  useless,  for  He  that  is 
higher  than  the  highest  regardeth,  and  there  be  higher 
than  they.  The  great  King  who  comes  against  them 
has  with  Him  called  and  chosen  and  faithful  ones,  and. 
He  is  the  overcomer. 

We  are  now  told  how  the  destruction  of  the  false 
church  is  brought  about,  and  in  this  as  in  all  the  ways 
of  God,  what  infinite  wisdom  and  infinite  power  is 
displayed.  God  puts  it  into  the  hearts  of  the  con- 
federated kings  to  confer  upon  the  emperor  the  fullest 
power  in  their  several  kingdoms,  for  the  purpose,  it 
would  seem,  of  exterminating  a  religious  system  which 
had  become  hateful  and  intolerable  to  them. 

' '  And  the  woman  which  thou  sawest  is  that  great 
city,  which  reigneth  over  the  kings  of  the  earth." 
The  change  of  metaphor  which  we  are  constantly 
finding  in  this  book,  which  has  sometimes  proven  a 
difficulty,  really  elucidates  the  meaning,  and  like 
circumstantial  evidence  in  a  criminal  trial,  adds  link 
after  link  to  the  chain,  until  there  is  no  escape  from  an 
inevitable  conclusion.  The  woman  sits  upon  many 
waters ;  she  sits  upon  a  scarlet  colored  beast ;  she  sits 
upon  the  seven  heads  of  the  beast  ;  and  she  sits  upon 
seven  mountains.     Now  the  woman  is  a  great  city  and 


A  DISSERTATION  THEREON.  1 93 

reigns  over  kings.  It  is  an  organized  system,  with 
rules  and  regulations  and  by-laws  ;  with  executive 
officers,  a  police  force  and  penal  impositions.  It  is  all 
clearly  the  same  institution,  and  the  next  chapter 
developes  her  character  and  her  fate  with  much  detail. 

In  the  fourteenth  chapter  we  had  the  first  intima- 
tion of  the  judgment  of  Babylon.  The  beast  had 
marked  his  own,  and  God  responds  by  sealing  His 
servants  in  their  foreheads.  This,  it  is  evident,  was  at 
a  period  when  the  new  religion  was  established,  when 
the  beast  cast  off  the  woman  by  whom  he  was  being 
ridden  and  began  the  relentless  persecution  we  have 
just  been  considering,  and  this  was  before  the  sounding 
of  the  trumpets,  and  forty  and  two  months  before  the 
final  crisis.-  In  the  fourteenth  chapter  which  synchro- 
nises with  the  seventh,  after  the  judgment  of  Babylon 
is  announced,  the  angel's  loud  voiced  warning  is  heard, 
the  blessedness  of  those  who  die  in  the  Lord  is 
announced,  for  it  is  a  time  of  bitter  persecution. 
Earlier  in  these  scenes  the  professing  church  had 
consigned  many  saints  of  God  to  martyrdom,  and  their 
souls  were  seen  under  the  altar ;  now  it  is  the  abomina- 
tion that  maketh  desolate,  the  newly  established 
idolatrous  worship  which  causes  the  blood  of  the 
witnesses  of  Jesus  to  flow;  but  they  are  blessed;  if  they 
miss  the  earthly  blessing  they  succeed  to  a  far  higher 


194  'J^HE  APOCALYPSE. 

and  happier  State,  to  a  part  in  the  first  resurrection. 
Then  we  hear  of  the  harvest  and  the  vintage .  Man 
proceeds  to  do  certain  things  for  the  accompHshment 
of  his  own  purposes,  unconscious  that  he  is  the 
executor  of  God's  decrees.  It  may  seem  the  natural 
course  of  events,  that  the  new  religion,  having  been 
established  by  the  state,  the  repression  of  all  others 
should  follow ;  and  from  a  political  point  of  view  it 
will  no  doubt  seem  a  wise  arrangement  that  a  common 
policy  should  govern  the  counsel  of  the  bund  for  the 
accomplishment  of  an  end,  which  all  agree  in  thinking 
to  be  a  desideratum.  And  so,  united  action  is  decided 
upon  ;  a  decree  is  issued,  and  its  execution  is  rigorously 
enforced  ;  the  harlot  is  made  desolate  and  naked  ; 
they  eat  her  flesh  ;  consume  her  substance  ;  and  bum 
her  with  fire.  This  is  man's  side,  but  turning  back  to 
the  fourteenth  chapter  we  see  God's  side,  and  there 
one  like  unto  the  Son  of  man  is  seen  seated  on  a  cloud, 
and  having  in  His  hand  a  sharp  sickle.  How  He 
reaps  the  harvest  and  the  vintage,  and  what  instru- 
mentality the  sickle  represents  is  not  there  explained. 
It  is  clearly  not  the  day  of  the  Lord,  for  then  He  will 
not  be  on  the  cloud  but  on  the  earth.  If  judgment  is 
being  executed,  God  is  providentially  over  that  execu- 
tion ;  and  if  on  the  one  hand  we  see  the  Son  of  man 
with  a  sharp  sickle  in  His  hand,  on  the  other  we  see 


A  DISSERTATION  THEREON.  1 95 

that  the  sharp  sickle  does  its  work  through  a  medium 
which  must  itself  be  judged.  How  wonderful  are  the 
ways  of  God ! 


196  the;  APOCALYPSE. 


CHAPTER  XVIII. 


One  of  the  peculiarities  of  the  book  which  we  are 
considering  is,  that  after  the  announcement  of  an 
event,  there  is  the  return  to  a  history  of  the  circum- 
stances which  led  up  to  it,  or  the  moral  state  which 
necessitated  the  action  taken.  In  the  seventeenth 
chapter  we  had  the  judgment  of  the  wicked  woman  ; 
in  the  eighteenth  chapter  we  have  not  only  God's  side 
of  things  as  in  the  fourteenth,  but  the  reason  for 
the  judgment  upon  her  and  its  relative  effect.  Very 
little  is  said  about  the  downfall  of  the  judaic  system, 
while  the  babylonish  institution  is  largely  before  the 
mind  of  the  Spirit.  God  had  established  the  former  in 
order  that  man's  inability  to  work  out  a  righteousness 
acceptable  to  God  might  be  manifested,  and  when  the 
purpose  for  which  it  was  set  up  was  accomplished  in 
the  coming  into  the  world  of  Him  who  was  the  end  of 
the  law  for  righteousness,  man  persisted  in  clinging  to 
that  of  which  the  use  had  been  fulfilled,  and  in  reject- 
ing the  One  who  as  the  antitype  of  all  that  had  been 
foreshadowed  in  the  past  was  God's  provision  for  a  lost 


A  DISSERTATION  THEREON.  197 

and  helpless  race.  The  rejection  of  Him,  and  the 
maintenance  of  what  God  had  closed,  was  rebellion, 
and,  unsustained  by  His  grace,  could  only  end  in 
apostasy,  and  then  the  judgment  falls.  On  the  other 
side,  however,  there  is  the  corruption  of  that  which  is 
an  exhibition  here  of  the  manifold  wisdom  of  God. 
The  taking  out  of  the  world  a  people,  who  through 
God's  transforming  grace  should  be  fitted  and  suitable 
companions  for  His  Son  in  celestial  glory,  is  a  work  so 
far  beyond  the  highest  flight  of  human  imagination, 
so  far  beyond  the  promises  to,  or  the  hopes  of  past 
ages,  that  it  stands  out  as  unique  in  the  history  of 
God's  dealings  with  His  creature  man.  The  base 
imitation  of  this  wonderful  work  of  God  ;  the  satenic 
effort  to  make  it  ineffective  by  presenting  a  counterfeit, 
and  the  awful  energy  put  forth  to  destroy  that  which 
God  had  introduced  as  a  special  manifestation  of  His 
wisdom  and  power,  could  only  call  for  a  response 
fitting  the  character  of  the  collusive  opposition,  con- 
sequently we  find  an  elaboration  of  detail  expressive  of 
the  mind  of  the  Spirit  regarding  this  conspiracy  to 
destroy  that  upon  which  God  had  bestowed  such  a 
sacrifice  and  such  painstaking. 

"After  these  things  I  saw  another  angel  come 
down  from  heaven  having  great  authority  ;  and  the 
earth  was  lightened  with  his  glory." 


198  THK  APOCALYPSB. 

It  will  by  this  time  have  become  apparent  that  all 
thought  of  moral  excellency  has  been  abandoned  by 
the  professing  church,  and  that  the  whole  profession, 
while  acknowledging  the  name  of  Christ,  is  completely 
given  up  to  sensuous  gratification.  The  birds  of  the 
air,  those  agents  of  the  evil  one  which  industriously 
devoured  the  seed  which  had  fallen  by  the  way  side, 
find  among  the  branches  of  this  vast  tree  of  profession 
a  safe  and  pleasant  retreat,  and  it  is  also  the  abode  of 
demons  and  of  every  unclean  spirit.  All  nations  had 
yielded  to  illicit  intercourse  with  this  vast  system,  only 
to  find  that  it  was  drinking  wrath,  but  God  in  grace 
calls  His  own  out  of  all  association  with  that  which  is 
about  to  receive  an  infliction  of  heaven  sent  plagues  for 
sins  which  had  been  so  joined  one  to  another  in  an 
unbroken  series,  that  while  taking  place  on  earth,  they 
had  stretched  away  to  heaven.  She  had  inflicted 
grievous  torments  on  others  ;  she  had  mixed  a  cup  of 
trembling  for  many,  of  whom  the  world  was  not 
worthy  ;  the  chalice  was  now  to  be  presented  to  her 
own  lips  with  a  double  mixture,  and  her  torment  and 
sorrow  should  be  meted  out  to  her  to  a  degree  cones- 
ponding  to  her  luxurious  life  and  self-glorification. 
She  had  known  something  of  vicissitudes.  After  a 
thousand  years  of  supremacy,  one  after  another  of  the 
nations  began  to  repudiate  her  authority  and  to  escape 


A  DISSERTATION   THERBON.  I99 

from  under  her  yoke;  but,  adaptingherself  to  the  changed 
condition  of  things  she  succeeded  in  replacing  it,  in  an 
apparently  enduring  form,  and  in  such  manner  that 
she  could  confidently  say  that  she  would  never  know 
widowhood  or  sorrow.  Ah  !  the  One  who  judgeth  her 
is  strong,  and  her  self-gratulation  comes  to  an  abrupt 
termination,  for  suddenly  death,  and  mourning,  and 
famine,  and  consuming  fire  come  upon  her.  The  kings 
of  the  earth  had  been  living  luxuriously  and  unlawfully 
with  her,  now  they  see  the  smoke  of  her  burning  and 
lament  her ;  that  is  to  say,  they  see  the  effect  of  the 
judgment  which  is  inflicted  upon  her,  and  while  they 
lament  the  end  of  that  which  was  a  source  of  gratifica- 
tion to  them,  they  disclaim  now  association  with  her, 
they  stand  afar  off  in  fear  that  what  has  come  upon  her 
will  reach  to  them.  It  was  a  great  city,  it  was  a 
mighty  city,  and  besides,  it  was  the  market  for  their 
commodities.  They  had  many  things  to  sell.  They 
could  offer  the  glorious  and  delectable  things  of  the 
world  to  her  ;  but  what  use  could  the  bride  of  Christ 
make  of  these  ?  If  she  were  really  what  she  assumed 
to  be,  her  treasure  would  have  been  in  heaven,  from 
whence  she  would  have  been  looking  for  the  Saviour 
the  Lord  Jesus  Christ  to  take  her  away  to  the  prepared 
mansions  in  glory.  But  she  was  not  that  at  all.  She 
might  claim  the  estates,  and  bring  forward  suborned 


200  THE  APOCALYPSE. 

witnesses  to  prove  her  title,  but  it  was  all  useless.  The 
wares  she  dealt  in  were  of  gold,  and  silver,  and  precious 
stones,  and  of  pearls,  and  fine  linen,  and  purple,  and  silk, 
and  scarlet,  and  all  thyine  wood,  and  all  manner  vessels 
of  ivory,  and  all  manner  vessels  of  most  precious  wood, 
and  of  brass,  and  iron,  and  marble,  and  cinnamon,  and 
odours,  and  ointments,  and  frankincense,  and  wine,  and 
oil,  and  fine  flour,  and  wheat,  and  beasts,  and  sheep,  and 
horses,  and  chariots,  and  bodies  and  souls  of  men  ;  and 
not  in  love,  joy,  peace,  longsuffering,  gentleness,  good- 
ness, faith,  meekness,  temperance.  This  traflSc  in  which 
she  was  engaged  disclosed  her  character  ;  she  was  of  the 
earth  earthy,  and  only  that.  The  devil  had  shown  the 
lyord  Jesus  the  kingdoms  of  the  world  and  the  glory  of 
them,  and  had  offered  them  to  Him  only  to  receive  a  com- 
mand to  leave  His  presence ;  His  pretended  spouse  accepts 
it  all  and  from  the  same  source  ,  she  clothes  herself  with 
fine  linen,  and  purple,  and  scarlet ;  and  decks  herself 
with  gold,  and  precious  stones,  and  pearls  !  But  the 
Spirit  of  God  by  another  apostle  had  said  :  ' '  Whose 
adorning  let  it  not  be  that  outward  adorning  of  plaiting 
the  hair,  and  of  wearing  of  gold,  or  of  putting  on  of 
apparel  ;  but  let  it  be  the  hidden  man  of  the  heart,  in 
that  which  is  not  corruptible,  even  the  ornament  of  a 
meek  and  quiet  spirit,  which  is  in  the  sight  of  God  of 
great  price.     For  after  this  manner  in  the  old  time  the 


A  DISSERTATION  THEREON.  20I 

holy  women  also,  who  trusted  in  God,  adorned  them- 
selves. ' ' 

The  list  of  commodities  of  which  this  great  city 
made  merchandise  closes  with  bodies  and  souls  of  men. 
The  latter  all  know  to  be  a  source  of  revenue  through 
masses  said  for  the  dead,  but  the  former  we  have  little 
knowledge  of  except  as  from  time  to  time  there  is  a 
slight  lifting  of  the  veil  which  hides  the  interior  work- 
ing of  institutions  otherwise  hidden  in  impenetrable 
mystery,  disclosing  a  state  of  things  of  such  character, 
that  we  need  to  remember  the  word  of  scripture,  and 
to  possess  our  souls  in  patience,  "  until  the  Lord  come, 
who  both  will  bring  to  light  the  hidden  things  of  dark- 
ness, and  will  make  manifest  the  counsels  of  the 
heart." 

Heaven  and  earth  are  called  upon  to  rejoice  over 
the  execution  of  God's  vengeance  upon  Babylon.  A 
great  stone  cast  by  a  mighty  angel  into  the  sea,  over 
which  the  waters  of  oblivion  close,  expresses  her  most 
complete  destruction. 

Many  voices  had  been  heard  in  this  great  city,  but 
not  one  of  them  had  attracted  a  heart  to  Christ,  or 
touched  a  conscience  as  to  sin  against  Him.  There 
was  much  to  divert,  much  to  interest,  and  much  to 
occupy.  There  was  the  voice  of  harpers,  and  musi- 
cians, and  of  pipers  and  trumpeters.      There  was  the 


202  THR  APOCALYPSE. 

voice  of  the  bridegroom  and  of  the  bride.  There  was  the 
light  of  candles,  and  the  hum  of  industry,  but  neither 
the  one  nor  the  other  should  be  heard  or  seen  in  her 
any  more  forever. 

It  will  perhaps  be  asked  :  Is  there  any  harm  in 
the  list  of  commodities  which  Babylon  dealt  in,  either 
in  their  use,  their  purchase  or  their  sale  ?  Eut  that  is 
perhaps  the  very  reason  why  they  are  enumerated,  as 
well  as  that  the  voices  heard  in  her  are  specified. 
Apart  from  the  bodies  and  souls  of  men,  there  is 
nothing  objectionable  in  the  list,  but  this  is  the  gravit}' 
of  it:  she  has  made  them  so.  She  has  taken  up  things 
which  are  in  themselves  useful,  perhaps  necessary,  and 
has  employed  them  to  keep  souls  from  God.  Having 
undertaken  to  make  heaven  secure  for  her  votaries,  she 
leads  them  into  paths  which  shut  them  out  from 
heaven,  and  if  in  the  meantime  a  conscience  should 
become  disturbed,  she  has  her  palliatives  ready  and 
penances  are  prescribed  as  perfectly  satisfying  God's 
righteous  requirements. 

But  there  was  more :  "In  her  was  found  the 
blood  of  prophets,  and  of  saints,  and  of  all  that  were 
slain  upon  the  earth."  The  annals  of  christian  mar- 
tyrdom exceed  in  horror  anything  that  has  ever  besides 
been  chronicled  of  persecutions,  of  tortures,  and  of  most 
cruel  deaths.      The  Holy  Inquisition  alone  boasts  of 


A  DISSERTATION  THKREON.  203 

having  exterminated  some  hundreds  of  thousands  of 
heretics.  Some  were  burned  ;  some  were  beheaded  ; 
some  found  relief  in  death  from  the  tortures  inflicted 
upon  them,  and  they  were  God's  saints  and  prophets. 
The  spirit  of  rehgious  intolerance  finds  its  home  in  the 
human  heart,  and  if  in  mixed  communities  this  senti- 
ment is  restrained  of  necessity,  it  is  always  there  ready 
to  expand  when  the  conditions  favorable  to  its  growth 
exist.  Is  it  thought  incredible  that  a  state  of  things 
should  again  arise  like  that  of  which  we  read  ?  Church 
unions  indicate  the  laxity  of  principle  for  the  sake  of 
union  as  to  many  things  which  in  the  past  great 
sacrifices  were  made  to  maintain  ;  and  a  readiness  to 
yield  convictions  of  truth  for  the  maintenance  of  which 
our  fathers  were  willing  to  lay  down  their  lives,  and 
every  where  the  trend  Rome-ward  is  apparent  to  the 
most  disinterested  observer.  If  there  is  the  almost 
universal  acceptance,  in  some  of  the  greatest  church 
organizations,  of  candles,  crosses,  crucifixes,  masses, 
confessionals  and  vestments,  with  hymns  of  worship  to 
the  virgin  Mary,  and  prayers  for  the  dead,  how  much, 
we  may  well  ask,  is  there  remaining  of  this  road  to  be 
travelled  ? 


204  THE  APOCALYPSE. 


CHAPTER  XIX. 


If  there  is  consternation  upon  earth  there  is 
rejoicing  in  heaven.  A  great  voice  of  much  people  is 
heard  saying,  '  'Alleluia. "  The  four  and  twenty  elders 
and  the  four  living  creatures  fall  down  and  worship 
God,  saying,  "  Amen  ;  Alleluia. "  A  voice  out  of  the 
throne  says,  ' '  Praise  our  God, ' '  and  the  refrain  is  taken 
up  b}-  a  great  multitude  as  the  voice  of  many  waters, 
and  as  the  voice  of  mighty  thunderings  saying, 
"Alleluia."  The  great  corruptress  of  the  truth,  who 
had  poivSoned  the  wells  of  water  from  which  the  people 
drank,  was  now  judged,  and  the  blood  of  the  faithful 
martj'red  servants  was  now  avenged  upon  her. 

The  wicked  usurper  having  been  disposed  of,  the 
true  bride  of  the  Lamb  is  next  presented  ;  and  with 
what  relief  we  turn  from  the  contemplation  of  a  hideous 
picture  to  that  which  fills  our  hearts  with  joy  and  calls 
forth  the  glad  acclaims  of  the  heavenly  hosts.  ' '  The 
marriage  of  the  Lamb  is  come  and  his  wife  hath  made 
herself  ready."  The  laborious,  incessant  work  of  two 
thousand  years  has  been   completed,   and   that  upon 


A  DISSERTATION  THERKON.  205 

which  all  this  labor  has  been  bestowed  is  about  now  to 
be  displayed  to  the  praise  and  glory  of  the  wisdom,  the 
love,  and  the  power  of  the  One  who  has  accomplished 
it  all  from  such  unpromising  material.  Often,  as 
viewed  from  a  human  standpoint,  all  had  been 
destroyed  by  the  unceasing  activity  of  the  enemy,  and 
by  natural  proclivities  which  continually  traversed  the 
heavenly  aspirations  the  Holy  Ghost  was  ever  occupied 
in  producing.  But  all  that  is  now  past,  and  like  as 
some  great  sculptor  who  has  been  occupied  for  a  life- 
time on  a  statue  which  is  his  crowning  work,  at  last 
announces  the  day  of  unveiling,  all  are  in  expectancy, 
and  shouts  of  approbation  are  raised  as  the  masterpiece 
suddenly  stands  out  in  bold  relief  to  the  unbounded 
admiration  of  assembled  friends  ;  so  also  as  the  nuptial 
day  approaches  there  are  many  guests  bidden  to  the 
marriage  supper  for  an  event  is  to  transpire  of  exceed- 
ing interest ;  the  Lord  of  heaven  and  earth,  the  King 
of  kings,  is  about  to  take  to  Himself  a  bride,  but  in 
what  character  ?  As  the  Lamb  !  The  union  is  based 
upon  redemption,  and  if  the  bride  has  been  brought  to 
her  present  state  of  attractive  beauty  by  the  assiduous 
care  of  the  bridegroom,  she  had  in  the  first  place  been 
redeemed  by  His  blood.  Some  of  us  remember  the 
bringing  home  of  a  danish  bride  to  the  heir  apparent 
of  the  british  throne,  and  as  the  imposing  array  of 


206  THE  APOCAI.YPSE. 

gaily  decorated  battleships  took  their  way  up  tJie 
Thames  in  sight  of  hundreds  of  thousands  of  cheering 
spectators,  our  thoughts,  it  may  be,  went  on  to  another 
scene  and  another  bride  of  which  the  earthly  pageant 
could  present  but  the  feeblest  figure. 

Two  things  are  specially  noted  as  to  the  bride ; 
she  has  made  herself  ready  ;  and  it  was  granted  to  her 
to  be  arrayed  in  fine  linen,  bright  and  pure.  The 
questions  arise  ;  how  has  she  made  herself  ready  ?  and 
why,  and  in  what  manner  is  she  thus  arrayed  ? 

The  church  ;  the  ecclesia  of  Christ ;  the  called  out 
ones,  had  been  endowed  with  rich  and  varied  gifts. 
Redeemed  by  the  precious  blood  of  Christ,  the  written 
word  of  God,  the  scriptures  of  truth  revealed  the  mind 
and  will  of  God,  and  led  the  redeemed  souls  through 
various  exercises  into  conformity,  with  that  mind  and 
will.  The  Hol}'^  Spirit  sent  down  from  heaven  as  the 
witness  of  the  glorification  of  Christ,  took  up  His 
abode  in  the  church,  not  only  corporately,  but  in 
individual  members,  there  to  lead  the  soul  into  occupa- 
tion with  Christ,  and  to  re-produce  His  image  therein. 
But  there  was  more.  For  the  perfecting  of  the  saints, 
gifts  had  been  given  to  men,  some  apostles,  some 
prophets,  some  evangelists,  some  pastors  and  teachers, 
"  till  we  all  come  in  the  unity  of  the  faith,  and  of  the 
knowledge  of  the  Son  of  God,  unto  a  perfect  man,  unto 


A  DISSERTATION  THERIBON.  207 

the  measure  of  the  stature  of  the  fulness  of  Christ. ' ' 
God  by  His  Spirit  had  wrought  a  work  in  His  saints 
through  various  instrumentaHties,  and  had  given  grace 
to  effectuate  outwardly  that  which  He  had  wrought 
inwardly  ;  the  result  of  this  work  becomes  apparent 
when  the  obscuring  medium  through  which  on  earth  it 
had  been  viewed  has  been  cleared  away  ;  the  body  of 
humiliation  changed  to  a  body  of  glory  ;  and  the  fallen, 
sinful,  and  irremediable  nature  finally  and  forever 
escaped  from. 

It  is  true  that  in  many  christians  there  is  but  little 
if  any  apparent  progress  of  soul,  and  the  words  of  the 
apostle  to  the  Galatians  may  often  be  applied  :  "I 
stand  in  doubt  of  you."  We  are  told  by  geologists 
that  in  the  earlier  formations  there  are  the  fossilized 
remains  of  creatures  of  such  an  undecided  character 
that  it  is  difficult  to  say  whether  they  belonged  to  the 
animal  or  vegetable  kingdom,  and  if  there  was  life 
there  was  no  movement  to  indicate  it,  and  so  it  is  with 
many  christians  who  forget  the  injunction  to  make 
their  calling  and  election  sure.  But  whether  the 
individual  growth  had  been  little  or  much,  the  church 
in  its  entirety  is  now  presented  to  Christ  ' '  a  glorious 
church,  not  having  spot  or  wrinkle,  or  any  such  thing  ; 
but  that  it  should  be  holy  and  without  blemish."  If 
he  response    to  the    labor    bestowed    has   appeared 


2o8  THE  APOCALYPSE. 

disappointing,  God's  purposes  of  grace  cannot  be 
frustrated  and  at  last  there  is  the  completed  work,  the 
wife  of  the  L,amb  hath  made  herself  ready. 

Furthermore,  a  spotless  robe  is  granted  her,  the 
righteousnesses  of  saints.  She  has  been  manifested 
before  a  tribunal  where  all  her  works  have  been 
surveyed  ;  the  combustible  part  has  been  destroyed  ; 
the  acceptable  works  acknowledged,  and  rewarded  ; 
and,  clothed  with  these,  as  with  a  garment,  she 
presents  an  entrancing  picture  of  what  the  power  and 
the  wisdom  and  the  grace  of  God  has  produced. 

Even  the  invited  guests  may  well  be  written  down 
happy.  For  four  thousand  years,  from  creation  to  the 
cross,  there  had  been  an  unbroken  line  of  witnesses 
for  God  upon  earth,  but  they  had  not  been  indwelt 
by  the  Holy  Spirit,  and  were  not  part  of  that  assembly 
which  the  Lord  had  told  Peter  He  was  about  to  build. 
They  had  however  been  raised  in  glory  and  theirs 
would  be  the  happiness  of  being  guests  at  this  marriage 
supper. 

It  is  remarkable  that  some  unannounced  personage 
should  supplement  the  voice  of  much  people  in  heaven  ; 
of  the  four  and  twenty  elders  ;  of  the  voice  out  of  the 
throne,  and  the  voice  of  the  great  multitude,  by  two 
distinct  statements  interjected  as  it  were  abruptly  inta 
the  narrative  of  transpiring  events.      Our  attention  is 


A  DISSERTATION  THEREON.  209 

thus  specially  directed  to  the  fact  that  there  are  called 
ones  apart  from  the  Lamb's  wife,  and  that  these  are 
the   true  words  of   God.       There    is    more    perhaps 
conveyed  in   the  first  statement  than  appears  on  the 
surface,  the  second  is  auxiliary  to  it.     The  church  is 
unique  in   all   the  wonderful  works  of   God.      Con- 
structed of  material  that  another  builder  would  have 
rejected   as  worthless  ;  material  that  in   many  cases, 
even   from  the  standpoint  of  a   human   standard   of 
morals,  was  only  fit  to  be  burned.     Yet  this  had  always 
been  true  as  to  God's  saved  ones ;  whence  then  the 
difference  ?     The  difference  lies  in  this.      Although  in 
the  past  there  had  been  those  who  had  walked  with 
God  ;  those  who  had  spoken  to  Him  face  to  face  ;  those 
to  whom  He  had  committed  miraculous  powers  ;  those 
who  so  pleased  Him  that  they  were  taken  away  to  His 
presence  without  seeing  death  ;  and  one  who  had  been 
His  special  forerunner  to  prepare  in  the  wilderness  a 
highway  for  our  God  ;  all  wonderfully  blest,  wonder- 
fully honoured,  and  in  an  enviable  place  of  nearness  to 
God,  yet  the  weakest  saint  of  this  dispensation,  indwelt 
by  the  Holy  Spirit,  and  joined   to  Christ  upon  the 
throne  of  God,  is  greater  than  any  of  those  blessed  ones 
of  the  past  age,  for  it  is  not  for  us  merely  the  fact  of 
salvation,  blessed  as  that  is,  it  is  not  merely  the  display 
of  the  one  upon  whom  the  Lamb  has  set  His  love,  all 


2IO  THE  APOCALYPSE. 

this  is  most  precious,  yet  in  addition  to  it  all,  this 
unique  creation  is  also  a  holy  temple.  It  had  been, 
even  in  its  weakness  and  in  the  midst  of  a  defiled 
scene,  a  spiritual  house  ;  in  heaven  it  is  a  holy  temple. 
Now  a  temple  is  not  built  to  remain  void,  and  the 
temple  that  God  builds  is  for  His  own  occupancy. 
When  on  earth  the  church  had  been  an  habitation  of 
God  through  the  Spirit,  its  erection  had  been  with  an 
exhibition  of  divine  power  and  glory,  and  God  was 
manifestly  in  the  midst  of  His  own,  but  afterwards  the 
house  was  allowed  by  its  keepers  to  fall  into  such  a 
dilapidated  condition  that  the  holy  Occupant  had  of 
necessity  to  adapt  His  operations  to  the  character  of 
things  brought  in  by  the  responsible  members,  but  in 
that  coming  period  all  will  be  changed,  there  will  be 
no  lapses  in  heaven  ;  no  earthly  attractions  to  lure  the 
soul  from  Christ ;  no  arch-enemy  to  destroy  ;  and  no 
evil  nature  to  be  wrought  upon  ;  all  will  be  to  His 
glory,  for  the  perfection  of  comeliness  of  His  bride  is 
the  result  of  His  own  work  ;  and  to  the  knowledge  of 
His  mind  through  the  indwelling  Spirit,  and  to  the 
readiness  to  act  for  His  glory,  will  be  added  the  power 
of  accomplishment  ;  and  so  the  energy  of  the  Holy 
Spirit  hereafter  will  be  directed  through  a  human 
channel,  and  the  mighty  works  of  God  be  wrought  by 
a  glorified  company,  with  the  fullest  knowledge  of  good 


A  DISSERTATION  THEREON.  21 1 

and  evil ;  for  those  who  will  be  led  of  God  the  Spirit 
and  used  of  Him,  will  be  a  rescued  creation  once  led 
captive  by  Satan  at  his  will.  What  greater  display 
could  be  given  of  the  wisdom  and  power  of  God. 

To  be  invited  to  such  a  marriage  supper  will  be  a 
distinguished  honor,  and  such  will  be  blessed,  but  Oh  ! 
the  ineffable  joy  of  being  part  of  that  exalted  and 
glorious  company  upon  whom  the  I^amb  of  God  will 
have  set  His  love  ;  who  will  enjoy  His  confidences  ;  and 
to  whom  the  maintenance  of  His  glory  as  Son  of  man 
will  be  committed. 

The  one  who  communicates  these  true  words  of 
God  seems  to  the  prophet  an  object  of  worship,  but  he 
has  to  learn  that  the  spirit  of  prophecy  in  this  revela- 
tion is  the  testimony  of  Jesus,  and  that  God  only  is  to 
be  worshipped. 

In  the  eleventh  chapter  there  was  the  announce- 
ment, on  the  sounding  of  the  seventh  trumpet,  that  the 
world-kingdom  of  our  I,ord  and  of  His  Christ  had  come  ; 
that  He  had  taken  His  great  power  and  had  reigned  ; 
that  the  nations  were  angry,  and  His  wrath  had  come. 
In  the  sixteenth  chapter,  as  the  seventh  vial  was 
poured  out,  a  great  voice  out  of  the  heavenly  temple, 
and  out  of  the  throne,  said  :  "  It  is  done."  In  the 
nineteenth  chapter  the  details  of  these  closing  scenes 
are  given  in  so  far  as  they  have  not  been  given  in  old 


212  THE  APOCALYPSE. 

testament  prophecies.  Heaven  is  opened  and  the 
Conqueror  comes  forth.  His  name  is  Faithful  and 
True  ;  His  name  is  the  Word  of  God  ;  His  name  is  King 
of  kings,  and  lyord  of  lords,  and  He  is  now  openly 
revealed  in  these  several  characters. 

Wars  among  men  are  characterised  by  unrighteous- 
ness, both  in  inception  and  execution.  Rapine  or 
revenge  are  for  the  most  part  the  inducing  motive,  and 
brutality  and  cruelty  are  the  necessary  accompaniments, 
but  the  One  who  is  Faithful  and  True  judges  and 
makes  war  in  perfect  righteousness. 

He  is  the  expression  of  the  mind  of  God  ;  all  things 
are  plain  and  opened  to  His  eyes ;  besides,  He  is  the 
Wearer  of  many  diadems,  not  the  crowns  of  the  victor 
merely,  but  crowns  which  imply  an  inherent  right  in 
the  wearer.  When  Heldai,  Tobijah  and  Jedaiah  came 
up  as  a  deputation  from  the  captives  at  Babylon  to  the 
builders  of  the  temple,  their  sacred  offering  was  to  be 
an  abiding  memorial.  Crowns  were  to  be  made  for 
Joshua  the  high  priest  of  their  silver  and  gold, 
because  the  time  was  coming  when  the  antitype 
would  be  revealed  in  the  Branch  who  would  be 
the  Priest  upon  the  throne,  the  divine  Redeemer, 
and  gold  alone  or  silver  alone  woula  be  a  faulty 
presentment.  All  things  are  His  by  creation  ;  all 
things  are  His  by  inheritance  ;  all  things  are  His  by 


A  DISSERTATION  THEREON.  213 

purchase  ;  all  things  are  His  by  conquest ;  and,  wonder 
of  wonders,  every  right,  every  title,  every  prerogative 
which  He  has  as  Son  of  man  is  shared  with  His 
co-heirs. 

He  had  a  name  written  that  no  man  knew  but  He 
Himself.  No  man  hath  seen  God  at  any  time,  the 
only  begotten  Son  who  is  in  the  bosom  of  the  Father 
He  hath  declared  Him.  God  dwells  in  light  that  no 
man  has  approached  unto,  or  can  approach  unto,  yet 
man,  in  his  fatuity,  in  every  age  since  the  cross,  has 
thought  if  there  was  one  subject  more  than  another 
which  he  has  been  competent  to  discuss  and  elucidate, 
it  has  been  that  of  the  person  of  the  Christ,  that 
unfathomable  mystery  of  godliness. 

Clothed  with  a  vesture  dipped  in  blood  and  called 
the  Word  of  God,  the  assurance  is  given,  that  whether 
in  burning  scrutiny  ;  in  kingly  authority  ;  in  incompre- 
hensible character  ;  or  in  sanguinary  judgment ;  He  is 
ever  and  always  the  expression  of  the  mind  of  God. 

But  He  is  more  ;  He  is  King  of  kings  and  Lord  of 
lords.  The  armies  of  heaven  follow  Him  ;  irresistible 
in  conquering  power  and  energy ;  and  manifestly 
suitable  attendants  upon  the  One  who  judges  and 
makes  war  in  righteousness.  Heaven's  uniform  is  fine 
linen,  clean  and  white. 


214  THE  APOCALYPSE. 

There  are  uow  three  things  said  as  to  this  great 
King.  A  sharp  sword  proceedeth  out  of  His  mouth 
by  which  He  smites  the  nations  ;  He  rules  them  with 
a  rod  of  iron  ;  and  He  treadeth  the  wine-press  of  the 
fierceness  and  wrath  of  God  the  Almighty. 

Smiting  the  nations  with  the  sword  of  His  mouth 
and  treading  the  wine-press  are  judicial  ;  ruling  with  a 
rod  of  iron  is  administrative.  It  is  now  the  great  and 
dreadful  day  of  the  Lord.  There  has  been  patience, 
there  has  been  delay.  There  have  been  awful  mani- 
festations of  divine  anger,  and  many  calls  to  repentance  ; 
but  all  has  been  in  vain  ;  and  the  Judge  arises  to 
execute  His  work,  His  strange  work,  and  cut  it  short 
in  righteousness.  It  is  the  judgment  of  the  nations  of 
which  the  Lord  spake  to  His  disciples  as  recorded  in 
the  25th  chapter  of  Matthew's  gospel. 

It  is  evident  that  the  smiting  of  the  nations  and 
the  treading  the  wine-press  are  distinct  and  separate 
acts  of  judgment.  God's  ancient  people  are  not 
reckoned  among  the  nations,  and  the  vine  is  a  figure 
used  for  them  in  scripture.  It  will  be  remembered 
that  this  is  the  second  time  in  the  prophecy  that  the 
treading  of  the  wine-press  is  spoken  of  ;  in  the  former 
case  the  treading  was  without  the  city,  evidently  in 
the  neighborhood  of  Jerusalem,  and  before  the  coming 
forth  of  the  armies  of  heaven,  while  this  is  clearly  a 


A  DISSERTATION  THEREON.  215 

subsequent  act.  In  the  former,  the  Son  of  man  is 
seated  upon  the  cloud  and  angelic  powers  are  used  to 
gather  the  vintage;  here,  the  Lord  has  descended  to  the 
earth  and  there  is  no  word  of  angelic  agencies.  That 
was  evidently  Judah,  returned  to  the  land  in  unbelief 
of  whom  Jehovah  had  said  :  "  I  will  consider  in  my 
dwelling  place  like  a  clear  heat  upon  herbs,  and  like  a 
cloud  of  dew  in  the  heat  of  harvest.  For  afore  the 
harvest,  when  the  bud  is  perfect,  and  the  sour  grape 
is  ripening  in  the  flower,  he  shall  both  cut  off  the 
sprigs  with  pruning  hooks,  and  take  away  and  cut 
down  the  branches."  This,  on  the  other  hand,  is  the 
judgment  of  the  tribes  of  Ephraim,  whom  God  will 
bring  into  the  wilderness  and  plead  with  face  to  face, 
and  cause  them  to  pass  under  the  rod,  and  will  bring 
them  into  the  bond  of  the  covenant,  and  will  purge 
out  from  among  them  the  rebels  and  them  that 
transgress  against  Him,  and  will  bring  them  forth  out 
of  the  country  where  they  sojourn,  and  they  shall  not 
enter  into  the  land  of  Israel.  The  scene  of  this  judg- 
ment is  consequently  not  near  Jerusalem  nor  in  the 
land,  but  beyond  the  Jordan  and  the  Dead  sea,  and  to 
this  Isaiah's  prophetic  utterances  it  would  seem  allude. 

"  Who  is  this  that  cometh  from  Kdom,  with  dyed 
garments  from  Bozrah?  this  that  is  glorious  in  his 
apparel,  travelling  in  the  greatness  of  his  strength?  " 


2l6  THE  APOCALYPSE. 

"  I  that  speak  in  righteousness,  mighty  to  save." 

"Wherefore  art  thou  red  in  thine  apparel,  and 
thy  garments  hke  him  that  treadeth  in  the  wine  fat  ?  " 

' '  I  have  trodden  the  wine-press  alone  ;  and  of  the 
peoples  there  was  none  with  me  ;  so  I  trod  them  in 
mine  anger,  and  trampled  them  in  my  fury  ;  and  their 
blood  was  sprinkled  upon  my  garments  and  I  have 
stained  all  my  raiment,  for  the  day  of  vengeance  is  in 
mine  heart,  and  the  year  of  my  redeemed  is  come." 

An  angel  stands  in  the  sun,  that  great  governing 
and  controlling  body  of  this  earth's  movements  ;  and 
in  a  loud  voice,  bids  to  the  great  supper  of  God, 

This  invitation  has  been  read  so  many  times,  has 
been  preached  from,  and  quoted  so  continuously,  that 
with  many  the  words  have  lost  their  force,  and  if  any 
thought  is  convej^ed  by  them,  it  is  that  they  are  a  sort 
of  allegory  ;  but  the  words  of  that  voice  are  recorded 
in  all  their  awful  import,  and  the  day  is  fast  approach- 
ing when  they  will  find  their  fulfillment  in  scenes  of 
distress,  dismay  and  desolation,  exceeding  anything 
that  the  earth  has  ever  before  witnessed.  The  deluge 
was  universal  in  its  effects,  this  will  not  be  ;  but  there, 
awful  as  it  was,  the  dark  waters  closed  at  once  over 
the  heads  of  the  doomed  sinners,  silencing  forever 
their  voices  as  they  disappeared  from  view,  but  the 
marshalling  of  the  nations  before  the  Son  of  man  to 


A  DISSERTATION  THEREON.  21 7 

hear  their  just  and  unchangeable  sentence,  as  they  are 
consigned  to  everlasting  fire,  is  far  beyond  the  previous 
judgment,  inasmuch  as  the  sins  have  been  committed 
against  the  light  of  God's  revelation  of  Himself  in  the 
person  of  His  Son. 

"When  the  eternal  Son  of  God  came  down  from 
heaven  to  dwell  in  a  holy  tabernacle  of  flesh  and  blood, 
it  pleased  Him  to  come  in  such  lowliness  that  no 
person,  however  humble  or  despised,  should  be  awed 
by  His  presence,  or  deterred  from  seeking  His  gracious 
help  in  time  of  need  through  the  interposing  barriers 
which  usually  surround  the  great  of  this  world.  He 
was  meek  and  lowly  in  heart ;  God  was  in  Him 
reconciling  the  world  unto  Himself,  not,  for  the  time 
being,  imputing  trespasses  ;  but  for  His  love  He 
received  hatred,  and,  rejected  as  come  in  grace  and 
truth,  He  returned  to  the  scene  whence  He  had 
descended,  but  in  a  new  character,  hitherto  unseen  and 
unknown  in  heaven,  as  a  glorified  man ;  and  taking 
His  seat  upon  the  throne  of  God  He  awaits  with 
patience  the  gradual  development  of  all  divine  purposes. 
But  what  marvellous  grace  and  condescension  that  the 
'One  so  exalted  should  explain  to  His  saints,  not  only 
all  the  events  which  are  to  transpire  down  to  the  close 
of  time,  but  the  import  of  them  ;  so  that  standing  with 
Him  on  this  Pisgah  of  observation,  our  wondering  eyes 


2 1 8  THE  APOCALYPSE. 

look  out  over  an  expanse  of  revelation  which  stirs  our 
hearts  to  their  depths.  Amazing  that  saved  sinners 
should  ever  have  been  brought  into  such  holy  and 
blessed  confidences,  the  confidences  of  intimate  and 
trusted  friendship  ! 

And  this  same  Jesus  will  come  again,  but  to  the 
world  that  rejected  Him  it  will  be  in  judgment. 
There  will  be  the  insignia  of  royalty  ;  the  unapproach- 
able position ;  the  destructive  judicial  power.  Not 
now  a  poor  man,  brought  up  in  humble  surroundings, 
followed  by  a  few  illiterate  fishermen  and  a  hungry 
rabble ;  accessable  to  all ;  ministering  to  all;  but,  coming 
in  glory,  His  holy  angels  with  Him  ;  then  seating 
Himself  upon  His  throne  of  glory  and  gathering  the 
nations  before  Him  for  judgment.  Some  will  have 
accepted  His  heralds  and  their  announcement,  and 
will  be  received  into  His  favor  and  share  His  blessings, 
others  will  be  the  objects  of  wrath  for  thej^  have 
declared  that  they  would  not  have  this  Man  to  reign 
over  them, 

"  And  I  saw  the  beast,  and  the  kings  of  the  earth, 
and  their  armies,  gathered  together  to  make  war 
against  him  that  sat  on  the  horse,  and  against  his 
army. ' ' 

The  progressive  steps  by  which  the  wicked  race 
had  advanced  from  the  state  of  abject  terror  which 


A  DISSERTATION  THEREON.  2 1 9. 

was  apparent  as  the  judgments  of  God  began  to  be 
inflicted,  until  we  reach  the  desperately  hardened  state 
which  this  verse  presents,  we  have  considered  as  we 
have   followed  the  various  revealed  events  the  book 
discloses  to  us.     Naturally,  it  would  seem  incredible 
that  men  should  ever  reach  such  a  state  of  hardihood 
as  to  be  found  with  arms  in  their  hands  to  fight  against 
the  blessed  and  only  Potentate,  the  King  of  kings,  and 
Lord  of  lords,  yet  Pharaoh  ages  before,  had  seen  the 
glory  of  Jehovah  which  was  the  rearward  of   His 
people,  and  had  not  been  restrained  from  his  determina- 
tion to  attack  them  ;   he  had   seen  an  exhibition  of 
divine  power  in  the  passage  made  through  the  deep  sea 
for  the  people  of  God  to  pass  over,  and  in  his  blind 
folly  he  had  followed  in  to  his  destruction  ;  such  is  man. 
As  to  the  final  and  dreadful  conflicts  which  occur 
in  the  land  of  Judea,  as  the  times  of  the  gentiles  reach 
their  conclusion,  scripture  tells  us  elsewhere,  of  the 
ravages  of  the  king  of  the  north,  and  his  successful 
career ;  his  conquest  of  Jerusalem  ;  the  revival  of  his 
ancient  hostility  to  Egypt,  and  his  advances  against 
her  ;   the  disquieting  news  he  hears ;  his  precipitate 
return;   the  vast   confederacy  he   forms   against   the 
western  powers  ;  his  final  overthrow  ;  broken  on  the 
mountain  without  hands  ;  the  destruction  of  the  armies 
which  had  come  against  Jerusalem,  or  have  come  for 


220  THE  APOCALYPSE. 

her  defence,  for  she  will  be  found  a  burdensome  stone 
in  that  day  Ships  shall  come  from  Chittim  against 
the  Assyrian,  and  if  the  ships  of  Tarshish  are  foremos^ 
in  bringing  back  the  dispersed  people  of  God's  ancient 
and  future  heritage,  the  day  of  Jehovah  of  hosts  shall 
be  upon  all  these  ships,  that  the  loftiness  of  man  may 
be  bowed  down  and  Jehovah  alone  be  exalted  in  that 
day  :  and  furthermore,  it  is  at  this  time  when  the 
assembled  kings  mar\'el,  are  troubled  and  hasten  away, 
that  the  ships  of  Tarshish  are  broken  with  an  east 
wind.  Thus  if  Egypt  and  Chittim  have  recently 
become  appendages  of  Great  Britain,  and  the  ships  of 
Tarshish,  by  inference  her  navy,  the  boasting  and 
confidence  now  so  general  are  destined  to  reach  an 
ignominious  termination,  indeed  we  know  that  it  is 
God's  purpose  to  abase  all  that  exalteth  itself,  and  he 
would  be  bold  indeed  who  would  assert  that  there  is  no 
spirit  of  exaltation  abroad  at  the  present  time. 

But  all  this  is  beyond  the  record,  and  we  must 
hasten  to  return. 

The  roman  emperor  has  come  up  with  his  own 
and  confederated  armies  to  the  defence  of  Jerusalem, 
for  the  scornful  men  who  rule  there  have  made  a 
covenant  with  death,  and  an  agreement  with  hell. 
Their  fear  has  been  of  the  overflowing  scourge,  the 
dreaded  Assyrian,  but  they  shall  find  that  the  Lord 


A  DISSERTATION  THEREON.  221 

Jehovah  has  laid  in  Zion  a  tried  stone,  a  precious 
corner  stone  for  a  foundation,  and  He  will  lay  judgment 
to  the  line,  and  righteousness  to  the  plummet.  The 
romans  come  up  only  to  find  a  greater  and  mightier 
foe  than  Asshur,  but  not  deterred  by  the  glorious 
appearance  of  the  heavenly  host,  they  join  issue,  with 
this  awful,  this  appalling  result,  the  armies  are  com- 
pletely destroyed  and  the  two  leaders  are  cast  alive 
into  a  lake  of  fire  burning  with  brimstone,  the  re- 
ceptacle, a  thousand  years  later,  of  the  devil,  his 
angels  and  all  the  wicked  dead. 

Two  men,  living,  it  may  be,  at  the  present  time  on 
the  earth,  have  reserved  for  them  this  most  dreadful 
fate,  for  these,  like  the  betrayer  of  the  I^ord,  had  yielded 
themselves  to  satanic  guidance  in  direct  and  deadly 
hostility  to  their  Creator.  Their  offence  so  exceeds  all 
others,  and  the  evidences  of  their  guilt  are  so  un- 
mistakable, that  arraignment  before  the  great  tribunal 
would  be  superfluous,  and  so  tbeir  judgment  tarries 
not. 

But  there  is  another  in  this  trinity  of  evil,  the 
author  of  all  sin  ;  of  all  insubjection  to  God  ;  of  all 
rebellion  against  His  Son.  Once  the  most  exalted,  the 
most  gifted,  the  most  glorious  of  all  created  beings, 
now  the  most  abject  and  degraded.  An  angel  comes 
down  from  heaven,  not  even  a  mighty  angel,  just  one 


222  THE  APOCALYPSE. 

of  the  angelic  host,  and  lays  hold  upon  the  dragon,  that 
old  serpent  the  accuser,  the  adversar}^  binds  him  and 
casts  him  into  the  abyss.  What  a  profound  humilia- 
tion for  the  prince  of  the  powers  of  the  air,  the  god 
and  prince  of  this  world  !  Is  it  any  wonder  that  he 
should  hinder  by  every  means  he  can  make  use  of,  the 
reading  and  the  understanding  of  a  book  which  declares 
his  doom.  For  a  thousand  3^ears  Satan  will  be  in 
durance,  and  for  that  period  he  will  be  restrained  from 
deceiving  the  nations  ;  but  will  there  be  no  sin  ;  wdll 
man's  nature  be  changed?  Alas  !  man's  failure  in 
responsibility  during  the  millenium  will  be  more  marked 
than  ever  before,  for  while  now  he  can  give  full  rein  to 
his  wicked  impulses  and  charge  all  upon  the  devil,  and 
even  with  awful  blasphemy  accuse  God  for  allowing 
Satan  to  be  abroad;  it  will  be  then  apparent,  beyond  all 
controversy,  that  the  imagination  of  his  heart  is  evil 
from  his  youth,  and  that  all  he  can  do  under  the  most 
favorable  circumstances  ^'s  unavailing  to  bridge  the  gulf 
that  separates  him  from  God.  Then,  as  now,  and  as 
ever,  man  must  be  born  again  to  be  in  the  kingdom  of 
God.  Then  man's  natural  depravity  of  heart  will  be 
manifested,  for  the  unbelieving  mass  will  at  the  end  be 
giving  a  feigned  obedience,  and  on  Satan's  re-appear- 
ance will  flock  to  his  standard  only  to  be  devoured  by 
God's  consuming  fire  from  heaven. 


A  DISSERTATION  THERKON.  223 

But  how  blessed  that  there  is  another  side  to  this 
picture  ;  there  are  thrones  and  throne-sitters.  Daniel, 
in  his  vision,  had  seen  the  thrones  set  up  ;  the  Ancient 
of  days  sitting ;  an  everlasting  dominion  given  Him  ; 
and  the  saints  possessing  the  kingdom. 

It  is  unnecessary  to  say  who  were  sitting  on  those 
thrones,  the  record  is  merely,  they  sat  upon  them.  In 
the  first  chapter,  it  is  said  of  the  saints  :  "He  hath 
made  us  a  kingdom,  priests  unto  His  God  and  Father." 
In  the  fourth  chapter  are  seen  four  and  twenty  thrones 
and  four  and  twenty  elders  sitting  on  them  surrounding 
a  central  throne,  the  throne  of  God  ;  and  these  are  the 
only  thrones  in  heaven.  If  then  they  are  again 
presented  it  is  to  give  us  a  further  revelation  ;  judg- 
ment was  given  to  the  throne-sitters,  and  they  lived 
and  reigned  with  Christ  a  thousand  years. 

From  the  time  that  God's  rest  was  broken,  after 
the  creation,  by  the  rebellion  of  man,  He  began  at  once 
His  vaster  operations  in  which  would  be  displayed  His 
manifold  wisdom,  His  infinite  power.  His  inexhaustible 
love.  This  earth  was  to  be  the  theatre,  and  His  ruined 
creature  man  the  object  for  the  display  of  His  moral 
glory,  and  as  the  vast  operations  are  now  drawing  to  a 
close,  the  one  who  has  opened  his  heart  to  receive  His 
instructions  can  survey  these  operations,  and  enter, 
with  some  degree  of  intelligence,  into  the  ways  of  God. 


224  ^HE  APOCALYPSE. 

The  two  classes  of  martyrs  who  had  suffered  death 
during  the  tribulation  period,  the  one  under  a  papal  and 
the  other  under  an  infidel  persecution,  we  see  here 
identified  with  the  elders  of  a  previous  scene.  If  the 
rapture  of  the  saints  completed  the  first  resurrection 
there  would  be  no  place  for  these  martyrs,  as  scripture 
only  speaks  of  two  resurrections,  that  of  the  just  and 
that  of  the  unjust  ;  but  when  these  are  raised  and  given 
bodily  life,  the  heavenly  company  is  complete  ;  never 
again  will  saints  of  God  be  taken  to  heaven  ;  if  any  die 
during  ^e  millenium  they  can  have  no  part  in  the 
first  resurrection  ;  the  lists  are  closed  ;  they  can  onl)'- 
have  part  in  the  second,  and  that  will  be  for  judgment, 
so  that  death  during  the  thousand  years  will  be 
punitive. 

The  first  company  gave  a  positive  testimony,  the 
second  a  negative  ;  for  before  the  latter  come  upon  the 
scene,  great  darkness  is  prevailing,  and  they  are  Hke 
those  who  grope  their  way. 

Antiochus  Epimines  made  every  effort  to  destroy 
the  sacred  writings  in  his  day,  when  he  had  conquered 
the  people,  and  he  nearly  succeeded.  Again  a  similar 
effort  will  be  made,  and  the  word  of  God  which  is  now 
so  widely  diffused,  so  great  a  comfort,  and  so  blessed  a 
guide  to  the  saints  will  be  sought  for  in  vain.  ' '  Behold 
the  days  come,  saith  the  Lord  Jehovah,  that  I  will  send 


A  DISSERTATION  THKREON.  225 

a  famine  in  tlie  land,  not  a  famine  of  bread,  nor  a  thirst 
for  water,  but  of  bearing  the  words  of  Jebovah ;  and 
they  shall  wander  from  sea  to  sea,  and  from  the  north 
even  to  the  east,  they  shall  run  to  and  fro  to  seek  the 
word  of  Jehovah,  and  shall  not  find  it." 

All  who  have  part  in  the  first  resurrection  reign 
with  Christ  a  thousand  years. 

When  we  undertake  to  judge  of  other  scenes,  and 
other    circumstances,    our     judgment    is    necessarily 
relative;  we  have  no  basis  upon  which  to  form  our 
judgment  but  that  of  present  surroundings,  and  when 
we  read  that  the  saints  shall  not  only  judge  the  world, 
but  judge  angels,  the  mind  is  lost  in  the  thought  of 
having  to  do  with  incorporate  beings  in  any  way, 
particularly  judicially.     They  kept  not  their  first  estate, 
but  left  their  own  habitation,  and  they  are  consequently 
reserved  in  everlasting  chains  under  darkness  unto  the 
judgment  of  the  great  day— whatever  may  be  the  mean- 
ing of  the  judgment  of  angels.     The  coming  millenial 
age  will  not  be  in  subjection  to  angelic  beings,  but  to 
men,  and  the  rights  and  powers  of  men  will  be  vested 
in  the  Son  of  man.     For  a  thousand  years  there  will  be 
incessant  occupation  for  the  saints  in  the  government 
of  the  world.     There  will  then  be  an  absolute  monarchy. 
Democracy  will  have  had  its  day  ;  it  is  not  God's  order. 


226  THE  APOCALYPSE. 

Independency  is  what  man  likes ;  subjection  and 
obedience  are  God's  appointment. 

The  rest  of  the  dead  Hved  not  again  for  a  thousand 
years.  It  is  not  that  there  was  unconsciousness  ;  there 
was  no  human  existence,  and  no  human  Hfe  until  the 
expiration  of  that  period,  and  then  their  bodies  will 
again  be  given  them,  those  bodies  which  were  once 
used  as  instruments  of  unrighteousness,  and  in  those 
they  will  be  judged.  Those  hands  once  stretched  forth 
in  sinful  acts  ;  those  feet  once  swift  to  shed  blood  ;  that 
tongue  once  used  for  deceit ;  those  lips  under  which 
were  once  the  poison  of  asps  ;  that  mouth  once  full  of 
cursing  and  bitterness  ;  those  once  wanton  eyes  ;  all 
those  guilty  members  will  be  there  to  testify  to  the 
righteous  judgment  which  consigns  the  resurrected 
sinner  to  eternal  death  ;  an  endless,  unchanging,  un- 
mitigated state  of  misery  and  despair. 

Vast  numbers  of  the  human  race  have  sunk  down 
beneath  the  waters  of  the  sea,  and  on  the  ocean  bed 
their  bones  have  crumbled  away  in  the  silence  of  those 
unmoving  depths.  Vast  numbers  have  found  graves  in 
the  earth,  and  their  bodies  have  rotted  away,  nourish- 
ing as  they  did  so  the  inanimate  and  unconscious 
vegetable  life  above  them  ;  but  from  the  sea  and  from 
the  cemetery  rise  the  innumerable  companies  who  have 
been    summoned    to    the    last   great   assize.       What 


A  dissi;rtation  thereon.  227 

unhappy  recognitions  will  there  be  in  that  day  !  The 
deceived  and  the  deceiver  will  meet  again  ;  the  betrayed 
and  the  betrayer ;  the  murdered  and  the  murderer. 
No  alibi  can  be  proven ;  no  change  of  venue  allowed  ;  no 
advocate  will  hold  a  brief  for  an  accused  client  ;  no 
suborned  witnesses  will  testify  to  an  innocence  which 
does  not  exist.  The  throne  before  which  they  are 
arraigned  is  great,  it  is  insurmountable  ;  it  is  white,  it 
is  set  in  perfect  righteousness,  and  the  Judge  at  whose 
presence  the  heaven  and  earth  flee  away,  who  is  He  ? 
It  is  the  One  who  stood  before  Pilate's  judgment  seat ; 
the  One  who  patientl)'-  endured  the  mocking,  the 
scourging  and  the  spitting  of  His  wicked  creatures. 
Where,  now,  are  those  who  placed  the  crown  of  thorns 
upon  His  head  ;  arrayed  Him  in  royal  purple ;  and 
with  an  assumed  and  insulting  homage  bowed  the  knee 
to  Him,  as  they  hailed  Him  King  of  the  jews  ?  Where 
now  are  those  who  wagged  the  head,  shot  out  the 
tongue,  and  with  a  callousness  and  hard-heartedness 
well  nigh  incredible,  could  call  upon  Him  to  come 
down  from  the  cross,  that  cross  of  torture  and  anguish 
upon  which  the  weight  of  His  body  was  sustained  by 
the  nails  which  had  been  driven  through  His  hands 
and  feet ;  that  cross  from  which  He  looked  in  vain  for 
comforters.  Alas  !  it  was  surrounded  by  those  who  in 
heartless  indifference  gaped  and    stared  upon   Him. 


228  THE  APOCALYPSE. 

But  all  is  now  changed.  The  Judge  has  taken  His 
seat  upon  the  throne.  It  is  the  last  great  session  ;  the 
Oyer  and  Terminer  of  the  human  race.  The  prisoners 
are  disposed  before  the  throne.  Antediluvians  and 
postdiluvians  are  there  ;  unbelievers  of  every  form, 
and  from  every  clime.  Those  who  were  great  in  that 
world  which  has  passed  away,  and  those  who  were  of 
no  repute.  All  the  past  history  of  every  child  of  Adam 
will  be  found  recorded  in  the  books  as  they  are  opened  ; 
and  then  it  will  not  be  a  chain  of  circumstantial  evidence, 
forged  link  by  link,  but  positive  and  conclusive.  The 
names  are  not  found  written  in  the  Lamb's  book  of 
life,  if  so  they  would  not  have  been  among  the  dead  ; 
they  are  cast  into  the  lake  of  fire.  Their  bodies  had 
been  in  death,  their  souls  had  been  in  hades,  both 
death  and  hades  are  emptied  into  the  lake  of  fire. 

No  words  can  equal  the  intensity  of  meaning 
conveyed  in  this  brief  announcement.  There  they  have 
stood  on  the  page  of  sacred  writ  in  all  their  terse  and 
awful  import,  for  well  nigh  nineteen  centuries ;  and 
there  they  will  stand  till  the  end  of  time,  warning 
passengers  on  the  broad  and  easy  road  of  the  place  to 
which  it  leads.  No  superfluous  words  cloud  the  mean- 
ing, or  permit  another  interpretation ;  there  is  no 
ambiguity,  no  uncertaintj^ ;  a  child  cannot  misunder- 
stand  them,  nor  an   infidel  disavow  them  ;  and   the 


A  DISSERTATION  THEREON.  229 

remorse  which  those  will  know,  who,  having  learned 
God's  purpose  of  judgment  through  His  word,  and 
with  careless  indifference  disregarded  it,  will  be 
profound  ;  will  be  unremitting  ;  will  be  eternal. 

Leaving  for  the  present  the  revelation  which  the 
first  five  verses  of  chapter  xxi  give  us,  the  three 
succeeding  verses  contrast  the  portion  of  the  saved 
and  the  unsaved.  The  One  who  sits  upon  the  throne 
says  to  the  prophet :  "  It  is  done. ' '  Once  before,  as 
the  last  of  the  last  series  of  judgments  was  in  execution, 
a  great  voice  out  of  the  temple  of  heaven  said  :  "  It  is 
done,"  for  then  the  world-kingdom  of  our  Lord  and  of 
His  Christ  had  come.  Now  there  is  a  re-creation,  all 
things  are  new.  God's  dealings  with  a  fallen  race  are 
over.  The  seven  thousand  years  of  the  state  of  things 
we  are  acquainted  with  have  passed  ;  those  who  have 
desired  to  drink  of  the  fountain  of  life  have  slaked 
their  thirst ;  those  who  by  grace  have  been  overcomers 
enter  upon  their  undefined  but  illimitable  possessions, 
while  unbelieving  sinners  are  again  warned  of  their 
inevitable  fate. 

But  between  these  two  periods,  that  of  the  first 
resurrection  and  the  second,  intervenes  a  thousand 
years  of  earthly  prosperity  and  blessing  of  which  old 
testament  prophets  have  spoken.  That  is  not  referred 
to  here,   it  would  not  be  a  revelation,   but  in  the 


230  THE  APOCALYPSE. 

entrancing  picture  of  the  new  Jerusalem  we  are  given 
to  see  the  relationship  which  will  then  exist  between 
the  heavenly  and  the  earthly  saints. 

A  marriage  ceremony  had  taken  place,  the  bride, 
dressed  in  spotless  white  had  been  openly  received  into 
a  joint  occupation  of  the  throne,  and  her  appearance  in 
that  character  as  connected  governmentally  with  the 
earth  is  presented  to  us.  That  is  to  say,  viewed  from 
the  heavenly  side,  we  have  the  bride,  the  Lamb's  wife  ; 
but  the  bride  in  relationship  with  the  earth  becomes  a 
city  ;  now  cities  in  the  past  were  centres  of  power  and 
government,  as  Ninevah,  Babylon,  and  Rome  ;  and  thus 
this  holy  city  is  seen  as  it  descends  out  of  heaven  from 
God,  for  the  time  has  come  when  the  saints  are  to  take 
the  kingdom.  It  is  a  magnificent  spectacle  ;  the  earth 
has  not  before  seen  such  a  sight,  for  there  is  the  glory 
of  God  in  the  jasper-like  coruscation  that  illumines 
the  world.  Jerusalem,  the  city  of  the  great  King, 
which  but  erstwhile  was  called  Sodom  and  Egypt, 
where  also  our  Lord  was  crucified,  is  now  bathed  in  the 
ambient  and  refulgent  rays  of  that  glory  with  which 
heaven  is  familiar,  but  which  a  cursed  earth  had  not 
heretofore  had  definite  connection  with. 

The  salient  characteristics  of  the  holy  city  are  next 
presented.  A  wall  great  and  high  ;  twelve  gates,  with 
names  of  the  twelve  tribes  of  Israel  on  them  ;  twelve 


A  DISSERTATION  THEREON.  23 1 

angels  at  the  gates ;  twelve  foundations,  and  on  them 
the  names  of  the  twelve  apostles  of  the  I^amb,  all 
connected  with  its  governmental  aspect.  Why  should 
there  be  a  great  and  high  wall,  and  portals,  and  gate 
keepers  to  this  glorious,  this  inaccessible  city  ? 
Heretofore  nations  have  been  given  power  and  authority 
and  they  have  used  such  for  their  own  glory  ;  now  God 
is  going  to  have  a  government  wholly  according  to  His 
own  mind,  and  so  perfectly  has  all  been  ordered  by 
divine  wisdom  in  this  connection,  that  no  loftiness  of 
man  can  scale  those  walls,  no  base  design  enter  in  at 
the  gates  past  the  ever  watchful  porters,  and  God  in 
grace  has  connected  the  names  of  the  twelve  sons  of 
Jacob  and  the  twelve  apostles  with  that  delectable 
city  so  effectively  that  throughout  all  eternity  the 
objects  of  His  grace  will  ever  be  associated  with  the 
manifestation  of  His  glory. 

It  may  be  said  that  the  connection  of  the  twelve 
apostles  of  the  Lamb  with  the  holy  city  is  evident 
enough,  for  are  we  not  built  upon  the  foundation  of  the 
apostles  and  prophets,  Jesus  Christ  Himself  being  the 
chief  corner  stone;  but  why  the  twelve  tribes  of  the 
children  of  Israel  ?  It  is  the  argument  in  the  eleventh 
chapter  of  romans  that  God  has  not  cast  away  His 
people,  and  Paul  himself  was  a  living  witness  of  the 
fact ;  if  then  the  Lord  is  purposed  to  build  an  assembly 


232  THE  APOCALYPSE. 

upon  the  immovable  and  imperishable  Rock,  the 
beginning  of  that  structure  is  not  apart  from  His 
chosen  race,  but  in  connection  with  them  ;  and  if  in 
that  gospel  which  presents  to  us  the  Son  of  man,  the 
command  was  to  begin  at  Jerusalem  ;  in  that  which 
presents  to  us  the  Messiah  of  the  jews,  it  is  blessed  to 
see  that  the  commission  is  world  wide ;  and  if  the 
names  of  the  tribes  appear  on  the  gates,  it  is  to  the 
twelve  apostles  of  the  Lamb  upon  whom  the  city  is 
built,  that  the  promise  is  given,  that  they  shall 
hereafter  sit  on  thrones  judging  the  twelve  tribes  of 
Israel. 

The  dimensions  of  this  rectangular  city  are  taken 
by  a  divine  measure,  and  are  found  to  be  twelve 
thousand  stadia,  length  and  breadth  and  height  being 
equal ;  that  is  to  say,  if  every  detail  of  the  city  has  a 
governmental  significance,  then,  taken  in  its  entirety,  it 
is  the  same  thought  a  thousand  fold  developed,  and  in 
that  development  the  symmetry  is  even  more  apparent. 
How  perfect  the  government  of  the  world  will  be  in 
that  coming  age  !  A  King  shall  reign  in  righteousness, 
and  His  happy  coadjutors  will  be  the  willing  and 
effective  executors  of  His  holy  will.  Then  it  will  not 
be  as  with  the  angels  waiting  for  His  commands,  but 
heaven's  executive  will  have  an  intuitive  knowledge  of 
that  will,  for  an  indwelling  and  ungrieved  Spirit  will 


A  DISSERTATION  THEREON.  233 

communicate  tlie  deep  things  of  God  to  attentive  and 
receptive  hearts  where  no  selfish  interests,  and  no 
unbroken  wills  clash  with  divine  behests,  but  one 
unbroken,  continuous  and  everlasting  harmony  of 
thought,  word  and  action  will  pervade  those  holy, 
happy,  heavenly  citizens. 

The  wall  was  great  and  high  when  the  enclosure 
and  the  entrances  were  in  view,  but  when  another 
thought  is  to  be  presented,  it  is  according  to  the 
measure  of  a  man,  that  is  of  an  angel,  of  definite 
measurement ;  it  is  twelve  times  the  number  of  divine 
government  in  the  hands  of  man.  Two  thoughts 
present  themselves  to  our  minds  in  this  connection  ; 
one  is  that  the  wall  is  not  as  high  as  the  city,  and  the 
other  that  it  was  built  of  jasper.  It  will  be  remembered 
that  the  glorious  light  emitted  by  the  throne  Sitter  in 
an  earlier  chapter  was  as  the  light  of  a  jasper  and  a 
sardius,  so  that  when  we  find  here  the  first  foundation 
of  jasper  and  the  wall  of  the  same,  we  at  once  connect 
both  these  with  the  One  so  gloriously  presented. 
When  the  holy  city  was  seen  descending  out  of  heaven 
from  God,  its  Hght  was  the  glory  of  God,  like  unto  a 
stone  most  precious,  even  like  a  jasper  stone,  clear  as 
crystal.  Its  first  foundation  was  of  jasper  ;  its  wall 
was  of  jasper  ;  its  light  was  jasper,  and  all  is  Christ. 


234  THE  APOCALYPSE. 

The  wall  was  one  hundred  and  forty-four  cubits 
high  ;  that  was  suflEicient  for  an  enclosure  ;  but  the  citj'' 
was  twelve  thousand  stadia  in  height.  There  is  no 
thought  here  that  the  saints  will  lose  their  individuality 
in  that  bright  glory  ;  no  realization  of  the  foolish  dream 
of  buddhism — absorption  into  pure  Nirvana ;  but  the 
righteous  shall  shine  forth  as  the  sun  in  the  kingdom 
of  their  Father,  and  one  star  will  be  found  to  differ 
from  another  star  in  glory  ;  yet  in  the  midst  of  all  the 
blessed  liberty  no  thought  will  extend  beyond  the 
retaining  wall  of  the  love  of  Christ,  no  one  there  will 
ever  dream  of  another  foundation  than  that  which  is 
laid,  and  no  light  will  be  reflected  other  than  the  light 
of  the  glory  of  God  in  the  face  of  Jesus  Christ. 

In  this  connection,  as  we  have  seen,  jasper  is  first 
mentioned,  as  it  is  the  first  foundation,  but  in  the  list 
of  stones  upon  the  high  priest's  breastplate  it  is  the  last. 
There,  it  was  looking  forward  to  a  coming  glory,  now 
it  is  looking  back  to  that  which  has  been  manifested. 
Again,  the  one  who  had  been  in  Eden  the  garden  of 
God,  and  whose  covering  every  precious  stone  had  been, 
had  jasper  as  the  sixth,  that  ominous  number  of 
imperfection  ;  omen  subsequently  verified  in  his  down- 
fall. 

The  names  of  the  twelve  apostles  of  the  Lamb 
were  inscribed  upon  the  foundations,  and  these  were 


A  DISSERTATION  THEREON,  235 

garnislied  with  all  manner  of  precious  stones.  The 
moral  glories  of  the  Lord  Jesus  were  thus  identified, 
not  only  with  His  faithful  apostles  who  had  continued 
with  Him  in  His  temptation,  but  with  the  assembly 
which  He  had  built.  Furthermore,  the  street  of  the 
city  was  pure  gold,  as  it  were  transparent  glass. 
There  is  but  one  road  there,  there  are  not  various 
ways,  and  the  ground  of  the  walk  of  the  saints  is 
not  only  divine,  the  motives  are  transparent ;  alas ! 
now,  they  are  often  neither  the  one  nor  the  other. 

There  is  no  temple  there  ;  no  going  up  to  the 
house  of  God  together  ;  no  question  of  this  mountain, 
or  of  Jerusalem,  as  rival  places  where  men  ought  to 
worship,  but  the  Lord  God  Almighty  and  the  Lamb 
are  the  temple  of  it.  Here,  a  place  of  worship  implies 
intermittence,  and  although  the  Spirit  of  God  has 
said:  "I  will  therefore  that  men  pray  everywhere, 
lifting  up  holy  hands,  without  wrath  and  doubting, ' ' 
yet  the  response  from  the  heart  of  man  as  the  Spirit 
strikes  the  slackened  chords  is  often  feeble  and 
inharmonious ;  there,  how  different !  There,  the 
heart  will  be  full  of  joy,  the  lips  of  praise  ;  there,  there 
will  be  no  need  to  incite  to  worship  by  aesthetic 
accessories ;  every  movement  of  the  heart ;  every 
thought  of  the  mind  ;  every  word  from  the  mouth 
will  be  eucharistic. 


236  THE  APOCAI^YPSE. 

There  is  no  need  of  the  light  of  the  sun  or  moon  in 
that  holy  heavenly  city,  for  the  glory  of  God  lightens 
it,  and  the  I^amb  is  the  light  thereof.  No  obscurity 
prevails  there  ;  no  clouds  arise  ;  no  darkening  influences 
exist ;  but  one  unchanging,  unending  glory  pervades 
the  scene  in  which  the  unconcealed  deeds  are  manifest, 
that  they  are  wrought  in  God.  The  nations  walk  in 
the  light  of  that  heavenly  glory,  the  kings  bring  their 
glory  unto  it.  "  In  that  day  I  will  hear,  saith  the 
Ivord,  I  will  hear  the  heavens,  and  they  shall  hear  the 
earth  ;  and  the  earth  shall  hear  the  corn,  and  the  wine, 
and  the  oil ;  and  they  shall  hear  Jezreel." 

The  gates  of  the  temple  of  Janus  were  kept  open 
in  time  of  war,  and  closed  in  time  of  peace  ;  they  were 
closed  but  once  ;  the  gates  of  the  heavenly  city,  on  the 
contrary,  are  never  closed,  and  it  is  the  reign  of  the 
Prince  of  peace.  No  wily  foe  can  approach  under  the 
cover  of  darkness,  for  there  is  none  there.  One 
unending  day  of  unalloyed  delight  goes  on  forever. 
No  clocks  strike  the  hour,  for  time  has  ceased.  No 
setting  sun  invites  to  rest,  for  there  is  no  night  and  no 
weariness. 

Oh  !  Jerusalem  the  golden,  city  of  foundations,  city 
of  the  living  God  ;  the  ardent  longings  of  our  hearts 
are  towards  thee ;  and  as  with  wistful  eyes  we  look 
away  towards  thy  coming  glory,  we  seem  almost  to 


A  DISSERTATION  THKRBON.  237 

catch  a  glimpse  of  thy  lofty  pinnacles,  thy  pearly 
portals,  and  thy  jasper  walls. 

We  have  seen  that  the  city  has  but  one  street, 
now  in  the  last  chapter  of  our  blessed  book  we  see  it  has 
also  one  river  and  one  tree.  The  river  flows  from  the 
throne  of  God  and  the  Lamb,  it  is  clear  as  crystal,  it  is 
the  river  of  water  of  life  ;  it  is  the  river,  the  streams 
whereof  shall  make  glad  the  city  of  God ,  No  drought 
of  summer  dries  up  the  river,  no  convulsion  of  nature 
changes  its  course.  Its  source  is  inexhaustible,  its 
flow  perennial,  and  the  river  of  God  is  full  of  water. 
"In  the  last  day,  that  great  day  of  the  feast,  Jesus 
stood  and  cried,  saying :  If  any  man  thirst,  let  him 
come  unto  me  and  drink.  He  that  believeth  on  me  as 
the  scripture  hath  said,  out  of  his  belly  shall  flow 
rivers  of  living  waters  (but  this  spake  He  of  the 
Spirit,  which  they  that  believe  on  Him  should  receive, 
for  the  Spirit  was  not  yet ;  because  that  Jesus  was  not 
yet  glorified.)" 

When  we  come  to  a  consideration  of  the  tree  of 
life  we  find  a  presentation  that  completely  traverses 
human  reason.  This  tree  is  planted  in  the  middle  of 
the  street ;  it  is  also  on  either  side  of  the  river ;  it 
bears  twelve  manner  of  fruits  ;  the  yield  is  monthly  ; 
and  the  leaves  are  medicinal.  Our  first  knowledge  of 
this  tree  goes  back  six  thousand  years,  when  we  find 


238  THE  APOCAI^YPSE. 

it  planted  in  the  midst  of  the  garden  of  Eden.  Then 
the  conditions  were  different,  and  it  was  adapted  to  the 
requirements  of  innocent  man.  There  was  neither 
twelve  fruits,  nor  twelve  months,  nor  healing  in  the 
leaves.     Whence  the  difference  ? 

Our  Lord  Jesus  Christ  is  Himself  the  tree  of  life. 
He  is  the  way,  the  truth,  and  the  life;  He  is  in  the 
midst  of  the  city  ;  in  the  very  midst  of  its  single  street ; 
and  apart  from  Him  there  is  no  created  existence,  no 
life.  There  is  extraordinary  vitality  in  that  heavenly 
city,  but  He  is  the  source  of  all  life  and  power.  The 
river  flows  from  the  throne  of  God  and  of  the  Lamb  ; 
it  is  the  blessed  energy  of  the  Holy  Spirit,  but  on 
either  side  of  the  river  is  there  the  tree  of  life  ;  there 
is  no  disseverance  in  divine  actings,  and  the  basis  of 
life  for  us  is  the  work  of  the  cross.  ' '  Except  ye  eat 
the  flesh  of  the  Son  of  man,  and  drink  His  blood,  ye 
have  no  life  in  you."  If  the  holy  city  is  to  be  a  source 
of  blessing  to  the  nations  which  walk  in  the  light  of 
it,  it  is  just  as  necessary  for  the  heavenly  ones  then  as 
for  us  now  to  be  feeding  upon  a  crucified,  a  risen  and 
a  glorified  Saviour.  We  have  life  by  feeding  upon 
Him,  by  faith  we  have  appropriated  the  efficacy  of  His 
death,  but  if  any  should  think  that  eating  of  Him  is 
limited  to  this  life,  they  have  but  to  look  at  the  picture 
presented  to  us  to  see  that  if  a  ministry  of  Christ  in 


A   DISSERTATION  THEREON.  239 

healing  power  is  committed  to  the  saints,  the  prepara- 
tion for  this  administration,  the  sustainment  in  it,  is  by 
continued  eating  of  the  fruit  of  the  tree  of  life  which 
grows  in  the  midst  of  the  street,  and  on  either  side  of 
the  river. 

No  more  curse  there,  no  nature  to  which  the  curse 
attached  has  found  an  entrance  ;  the  adam  life  has  been 
judged  at  the  cross  and  discarded,  it  was  unfit  for  the 
glory.  That  is  the  negative  side  ;  the  positive  is  that  the 
throne  of  God  and  of  the  Lamb  is  in  it ;  that  His  ser- 
vants serve  Him  ;  they  see  His  face,  and  His  name  is 
in  their  foreheads.  Exalted  as  will  be  the  position  of 
the  glorified  saints,  there  will  be  no  independency,  no 
self-assertion  ;  their  greatest  joy  will  be  their  service, 
for  it  springs  from  devotion  to  the  lyamb.  The  promise 
that  they  shall  see  His  face  is  a  blessed  one,  for  this  is 
the  thought  that  the  child  of  God  cherishes  above  all 
others.  We  love  Him  because  He  first  loved  us  and 
gave  Himself  for  us.  Through  grace  we  have  been 
given  faith  to  believe  on  One  whom  we  have  not  yet 
seen  ;  but  the  thought  of  looking  upon  that  face  once 
for  us  more  marred  than  any  man's,  seeing  Himself  in 
all  His  radiant  glory,  is  the  one  that  is  ever  uppermost 
in  the  mind  of  the  christian  ;  the  thought  that  cheers 
and  encourages  in  times  of  trial  and  difficulty  ;  sustains 
along  the  whole  course  of  the  path  of  life,  and  makes 


240  THE  APOCALYPSE. 

the  hour  of  death  one  of  triumph  and  rejoicing.  It 
will  be  wonderful  to  see  and  know  all  that  will  be  seen 
and  known  in  that  day.  The  crowns,  the  thrones,  the 
white  stone,  the  heavenly  city  will  all  be  of  deep  and 
lasting  interest,  but  above  and  beyond  all  we  shall  see 
our  Saviour's  face ;  we  shall  see  the  One  whose  love 
has  won  our  hearts  ;  whose  grace  has  bound  us  to  Him  ; 
whose  power  has  sustained,  and  whose  wisdom  has 
guided  us  every  step  of  our  christian  life  through  the 
world.  Then  there  will  be  no  fear,  no  shame  in  the 
confession  of  His  name ;  happy  they  who  find  none 
now.  Then  His  impress  will  be  stamped  upon  every 
brow ;  every  lineament,  every  feature,  will  proclaim 
them  as  His ;  the  Lord  God  shines  upon  them,  and 
they  reign  for  the  ages  of  ages. 

And  now,  the  great  vision  has  passed  ;  scene  after 
scene  had  unfolded  before  the  wondering  eyes  of  the 
apostle,  revealing  the  history  of  the  church  and  of  the 
world  from  the  days  of  John  until  the  days  of  the  Son 
of  man.  Is  it  all  a  mere  dream,  are  the  figures  which 
have  been  seen,  and  the  words  which  have  been  uttered 
the  creation  of  a  disordered  mind  ?  No,  the  angel  who 
had  shewed  him  them  all  is  still  there,  and  he  assures 
him  that  these  sayings  are  faithful  and  true,  the  Lord 
God  of  the  spirits  of  the  prophets  having  sent  His 
angel  to  shew  them  unto  His  servant,  for  the  time  of 


A  DISSERTATION  THKREON.  24 1 

their  fulfilment  was  near.  No  wonder  the  apostle 
should  be  awed  by  his  heavenly  visitor  and  seek  to  do 
him  homage,  but  after  all  he  is  only  another  of  God's 
creatures,  just  a  fellow-servant,  and  not  at  all  an  object 
of  worship ;  that  can  only  be  offered  to  God. 

The  prophet  Daniel,  whose  prophecies  were  in 
part  concerning  the  times  of  the  end  of  which  this 
book  speaks,  was  told  to  seal  up  the  words  of  the 
prophecy  ;  now  the  instruction  is  to  seal  them  not,  the 
time  was  at  hand  ;  a  time  of  a  fixed  and  unalterable 
condition  that  will  answer  morally  to  that  in  which  each 
person  will  be  found  when  the  end  comes.  The  Lord 
is  about  to  descend  from  heaven  ;  there  is  an  increasing 
awakening  as  to  this  ;  lamps  are  being  trimmed  every- 
where ;  alas  !  some  afford  no  light,  it  is  but  the  splutter 
of  an  oilless  wick  ;  then  the  unrighteous  and  the  filthy 
continue  so ;  the  righteous  who  needed  no  Saviour, 
get  none  ;  the  holy,  those  who  have  washed  their  robes, 
have  right  to  the  tree  of  life  and  enter  in  through  the 
gates  into  the  city ;  the  others  are  without,  they  can 
never  enter ;  in  the  word  of  God  there  is  no  hint  of 
post-mortem  restoration. 

It  is  now  another  voice  that  is  heard  as  the  book 
approaches  its  completion  ;  the  angel  is  no  longer  seen 
or  heard  ;  he  has  been  a  messenger,  and  having  deliver- 


242  THE  APOCALYPSE. 

ed  his  message  he  gives  place  to  the  Alpha  and  Omega 
who  is  coming  quickly.  He  had  indeed  sent  His  angel 
to  testify  these  things,  He  Himself  is  the  root  of  David; 
He  is  the  oiffspring  of  David  ;  and  He  is  the  bright  and 
morning  star.  When  He  was  upon  earth  and  the  jews 
came  tempting  Him  He  asked  them  as  to  the  Christ  whose 
son  He  was  to  be,  they  answered,  "The  son  of  David," 
He  said  to  them,  "How  is  He  then  His  Lord,"  for  the 
Psalmist  had  said,  Jehovah  said  unto  my  Lord,  sit 
thou  on  my  right  hand  until  I  make  thy  foes  thy  foot- 
stool. He  is  before  all,  above  all,  the  Creator  of  all.  He 
was  the  source  from  which  David  had  sprung,  the 
author  of  his  existence,  and  yet  as  a  man  he  had  come 
of  David's  line,  of  his  house  and  lineage,  and  by  right 
of  primogeniture  was  David's  heir  and  entitled  to  the 
throne. 

It  is  of  the  deepest  import  to  note  that  when  the 
Lord  speaks  His  first  words  are  the  announcement  of 
His  coming ;  His  last  repeat  it,  and  in  both  is  added 
the  word,  quickly.  This  is  the  hope  of  the  church  ; 
this  is  the  separating  truth  that  is  intended  to  guard 
the  saints  from  the  allurements  of  the  world.  It  is  this, 
which  burning  brightly  in  the  heart,  evokes  the  deepest 
affection  towards  the  coming  One,  and  the  most  ardent 
longing  for  the  rapturous  moment  that  will  reveal  Him, 
and  transform  the  waiting  soul  into  His  own  likeness. 


A   DISSERTATION  THEREON.  243 

giving  at  tlie  same  time  an  enlarged  capacity  of  appre- 
hension, which  [will  enable  the  saints  to  understand  the 
unutterable,  inexpressible  things,  that  were  heard  and 
seen  in  the  third  heaven,  to  which  he  had  been  caught 
up,  by  another  apostle.  But  the  I^ord  still  delays  His 
coming  ;  He  is  not  willing  that  any  should  perish,  but 
that  all  should  come  to  repentance ;  and  this  long- 
suffering  of  our  I<ord  is  salvation  to  many  souls.  Mark, 
it  is  not  that  all  should  come  into  some  religious 
associations  ;  nor  that  all  should  change  their  minds  ; 
one  and  the  other  may  be  the  result  of  repentance  ;  but 
if  there  has  been  no  conviction  of  sin  in  a  soul,  there 
has  been  no  work  of  the  Holy  Spirit,  and  consequently 
no  divine  life,  for  when  the  Comforter  is  come  His 
office  is  to  reprove  the  world  of  sin,  and  of  righteous- 
ness, and  of  judgment.  Multitudes  of  persons  are 
drifting  helplessly  and  aimlessly  on  the  vast  sea  of 
profession,  satisfied  in  having  a  name  to  live  while  they 
are  dead,  who  have  never  accepted  the  judgment  of 
God  upon  them,  have  never  taken  their  places  before 
Him  as  lost  sinners,  and  consequently  have  never  felt 
their  need  of  a  Saviour. 

The  love  of  Christ  for  the  church  has  begotten  in 
her  a  reciprocal  affection,  and  when  He  speaks  of  com- 
ing quickly,  the  Spirit  taught  bride  says,  "Come." 
But  there  are  many  of  God's  dear  children  who  have 


244  THE  APOCAI^YPSE. 

been  told,  and  they  believe  it,  that  the  Lord's  coming 
for  His  people  is  a  fiction.  It  is  loss  to  their  souls,  foi 
he  that  hath  this  hope  in  Him  purifieth  himself  even  as 
He  is  pure,  yet  if  there  is  a  heart  that  beats  for  Christ, 
wrongly  instructed  as  it  may  be,  let  that  soul  join  in 
the  refrain  and  say,  "Come."  Furthermore,  if  any 
soul  has  been  aroused  to  a  sense  of  the  burden  of 
unforgiven  sins,  and  shrinks  from  the  thought  of  the 
Lord's  coming,  the  Holy  Spirit  says  to  such  an  one ; 
Come,  poor  soul,  and  drink  of  the  river  of  the  water  of 
life  that  flows  from  the  throne  of  God  and  of  the  Lamb, 
and  then  you  too  will  be  able,  through  grace,  to  join  in 
the  ever  deepening  cry  of  the  waiting  saints,  and  say  : 
' '  Come  Lord  Jesus. ' '  Finally  there  is  the  world  at  large 
to  whom  the  invitation  is  given  to  drink  of  the  river  of 
the  water  of  life,  and  it  is  always  full.  Whosoever  will, 
is  the  word,  and  when  those  who  have  not  believed 
stand  before  the  great  white  throne  for  judgment,  the 
poignancy  of  their  deep  remorse  will  be  accentuated  by 
the  remembrance  of  the  whosoevers  to  whom  the 
scriptures  so  often  appeal. 

Alas  !  for  those,  and  there  are  many  of  them,  who 
are  adding  to  the  words  of  the  prophecy  of  this  book, 
or  taking  away  from  the  words  of  the  book  of  this  pro- 
phecy ;  to  the  one,  the  awful  plagues  recorded  therein 
will  be  added  ;  from  the  other,  God  will  take  awa}'  his 


A   DISSERTATION  THEREON.  245 

part  from  the  tree  of  life,  from  the  holy  city,  and  from 
the  many  precious  things  within  this  book. 

A  salutation  ends  the  revelation  ;  ' '  The  grace  of 
the  Lord  Jesus  Christ  be  with  all  saints."  And  but 
for  this  grace,  this  undeserved  favor,  the  wrath  of  God 
would  have  been  upon  every  member  of  Adam's  race  ; 
for  as  sinners  all  were  under  condemnation ;  as  saints 
who  is  there  that  has  not  been  an  unprofitable  servant. 

There  remains  now  a  brief  consideration  of  the 
eternal  state  which  the  first  part  of  the  twenty-first 
chapter  has  reference  to.  The  first  heaven  and  the 
first  earth  have  passed  away  and  there  is  no  more  sea. 
Never  more  shall  great  ships  laden  with  human  freight 
go  down,  carrying  with  them  their  shrieking  strug- 
gling passengers,  or  drift  into  the  breakers  and  on  the 
rocks  of  a  hostile  shore.  No  separating  element  will 
divide  the  inhabitants  of  that  new  earth  ;  the  conditions 
of  life  will  be  completely  changed,  and  sin,  that  root 
principle  of  evil,  will  have  been  eradicated,  for  then  the 
Lamb  of  God  will  have  taken  away  the  sin  of  the 
world.  Expiation  for  sins  was  made  at  Calvary  ;  sin 
was  condemned  in  the  person  of  God's  Son  at  the 
cross,  judgment  was  passed  upon  it,  yet  it  remains  to 
the  present  and  will  continue  till  the  day  of  God 
**  wherein  the  heavens  being  on  fire  shall  be  dissolved, 
and  the  elements  shall  melt  with  fervent  heat."  Isaiah 


246  THE  APOCALYPSB. 

speaks  of  new  heavens  and  a  new  earth  of  such  character 
that  the  former  shall  not  be  remembered,  nor  come  in- 
to mind,  but  this  is  clearly  moral  and  not  physical,  and 
has  reference  to  the  millenial  earth  in  connection  with 
Israel.  Peter  however  speaks  of  the  eternal  state  when 
he  says  :  ' '  Nevertheless  we,  according  to  His  promise, 
look  for  new  heavens  and  a  new  earth,  wherein 
dwelleth  righteousness,"  In  the  epistle  to  the  Cor- 
inthians we  find  a  fuller  statement :  ' '  Then  cometh  the 
end,  when  He  shall  have  delivered  up  the  kingdom  to 
God,  even  the  Father  ;  when  He  shall  have  put  down 
all  rule  and  all  authority  and  power.  For  He  must 
reign,  till  He  hath  put  all  enemies  under  His  feet.  The 
last  enemy  that  shall  be  destroyed  is  death.  For  He 
hath  put  all  things  under  His  feet.  But  when  He 
saith  all  things  are  put  under  Him,  it  is  manifest  that 
He  is  excepted,  which  did  put  all  things  under 
Him,  but  when  all  things  shall  be  subdued  unto  Him, 
then  shall  the  Son  also  Himself  be  subject  unto  Him 
that  put  all  things  underHim,  that  God  may  be  all  in  all." 
And  now  the  Holy  Spirit  gives  us  a  glimpse  in  our 
blessed  book  of  that  still  distant  future,  a  future  to 
which  the  heavenly  citizens,  angelic  beings,  and 
millenial  saints  will  be  looking  forward  during  the 
thousand  years  of  earthly  blessing.  Man's  last  trial 
has  taken  place  and  under  every  form  of  government 


A  DISSERTATION  THEREON.  247 

lie  has  been  a  failure.  Innocent,  he  deliberately  in- 
curred guilt ;  without  law  he  became  lawless  ;  under 
the  law  he  was  a  law-breaker  ;  under  grace  he  turned  it 
into  lasciviousness ;  and  under  the  beneficent  rule  of 
the  Son  of  man  he  gave  a  feigned  obedience.  But  all 
this  has  now  passed ;  God's  purpose  in  having  tried 
and  tested  intelligent  beings,  whether  in  heaven  or  on 
earth,  has  now  been  accomplished  and  the  final  and 
unchangeable  state  of  things  has  at  last  been  brought 
in,  God  is  now  about  to  tabernacle  with  men  in  a 
renewed  and  absolutely  perfect  state  of  things  to  which 
even  the  happy  condition  of  millenial  blessing  will  be 
incomparable. 

When  we  speak  of  marriage  and  the  married  state, 
the  newly  married  one  is  spoken  of  as  a  bride,  but 
shortly  after  she  is  designated  as  a  wife  ;  the  reverse  of 
this  is  what  we  have  had  before  us  in  that  which  we 
have  been  contemplating.  We  first  heard,  in  the 
proclamation  of  the  coming  nuptials,  that  the  Lamb's 
wife  had  arrayed  herself  in  her  robes  of  spotless  white, 
then  succeeded  a  thousand  years  of  married  life  of  the 
most  perfect  agreement  and  oneness  of  mind  ;  not 
indeed  as  often  in  earthly  marriages  where  half  the  life 
is  spent  in  a  process  of  gradual  assimilation,  and  the 
other  half  in  vain  regrets  over  the  mistakes  of  the 
past.    This,  how  different ;  the  wife  has  had  her  Lord's 


248  THE  APOCALYPSE. 

mind  without  a  shadow  of  a  thought  of  doing  anything 
not  in  accord  with  His  holy  will.  But  a  thousand 
years  have  rolled  their  undisturbed  course  and  again 
the  lyamb's  wife  is  presented  to  us,  and  how  ravishing 
the  thought  that  all  this  period  instead  of  diminishing 
her  attractions  has  but  added  to  them,  and  at  the  end 
of  the  thousand  years  the  wife  is  still  a  bride  in  all  her 
attractive  and  undimmed  beauty. 

How  blessed  and  intimate  will  be  the  communion 
and  confidences  of  love  between  those  who  have  thus 
been  united  in  such  holy  bonds.  The  future  will  have 
no  unhappy  surprises ;  no  thought  of  misplaced  or 
unrequited  affection  ;  no  anxiety  as  to  old  age  with  its 
decrepitude  of  body  and  imbecility  of  mind  ;  nothing 
to  mar  the  happiness  of  the  present ;  no  fear  to  cast  a 
shadow  over  the  future,  but  for  ever,  and  ever,  and 
ever  a  blissful  existence  of  ineffable  joy. 

Oh  !  that  the  Holy  Spirit  may  stir  up  the  hearts  of 
God's  dear  children  to  a  deeper  and  more  ardent 
affection  for  our  adorable  and  ever  blessed  Saviour  who 
has  redeemed  us  by  the  sacrifice  of  Himself  ;  who  loves 
us  with  a  love  that  many  waters  cannot  quench,  and 
whose  love  we  have  so  cold-heartedly  and  carelessly 
requited.  He  has  shown  us  this  entrancing  picture  of 
heavenly  glory  to  move  our  hearts,  and  the  response 
has  been  almost  imperceptible  ;  but  if  in  eternity  one 


A  DISSE^RTATION  THEREON.  249 

single  glorified  saint  should  hereafter  declare  that  the 
reading,  when  in  the  world,  of  this  dissertation  had  been 
used  of  the  Lord  to  make  those  glories  more  real  to  the 
soul  and  to  quicken  a  flagging  affection,  then  there  will 
be  profound  thankfulness  for  the  grace  that  incited 
tbe  task,  and  sustained  its  accomplishmeut. 


THE   KND. 


<i 


